What are Lipids?

WhatareLipids?
ByDrAnanyaMandal,MD

Lipidsaremoleculesthatcontainhydrocarbonsandmakeupthebuilding
blocksofthestructureandfunctionoflivingcells.Examplesoflipidsinclude
fats,oils,waxes,certainvitamins,hormonesandmostofthenonprotein
membraneofcells.

Whatarelipidssolublein?
Lipidsarenotsolubleinwater.Theyarenonpolarandarethussolublein
nonpolarenvironmentslikeincholoroformbutnotsolubleinpolar
environmentslikewater.

Whatdolipidsconsistof?
Lipidshavemainlyhydrocarbonsintheircompositionandarehighlyreduced
formsofcarbon.Whenmetabolized,lipidsareoxidizedtoreleaselarge
amountsofenergyandthusareusefultolivingorganisms.

Wheredolipidscomefrom?
Lipidsaremoleculesthatcanbeextractedfromplantsandanimalsusing
nonpolarsolventssuchasether,chloroformandacetone.Fats(andthefatty
acidsfromwhichtheyaremade)belongtothisgroupasdoothersteroids,
phospholipidsformingcellmembranecomponentsetc.

Hydrolyzable/Nonhydrolyzablelipids
Lipidsthatcontainafunctionalgroupesterarehydrolysableinwater.These
includeneutralfats,waxes,phospholipids,andglycolipids.
Nonhydrolyzablelipidslacksuchfunctionalgroupsandincludesteroidsandfat
solublevitamins(e.g.A,D,E,andK).Fatsandoilsarecomposedof
triacylglycerolsortriglycerides.Thesearecomposedofglycerol(1,2,3
trihydroxypropane)and3fattyacidstoformatriester.Triglyceridesarefound
inbloodtests.Completehydrolysisoftriacylglycerolsyieldsthreefattyacids
andaglycerolmolecule.

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Fattyacids
Fattyacidsarelongchaincarboxylicacids(typically16ormorecarbonatoms)
whichmayormaynotcontaincarboncarbondoublebonds.Thenumberof
carbonatomsarealmostalwaysanevennumberandareusuallyunbranched.
Oleicacidisthemostabundantfattyacidinnature.

Themembranethatsurroundsacellismadeupofproteinsandlipids.
Dependingonthemembraneslocationandroleinthebody,lipidscanmake
upanywherefrom20to80percentofthemembrane,withtheremainder
beingproteins.Cholesterol,whichisnotfoundinplantcells,isatypeoflipid
thathelpsstiffenthemembrane.ImageCredit:NationalInstituteofGeneral
MedicalSciences

Waxes/fatsandoils
Theseareesterswithlongchaincarboxylicacidsandlongalcohols.Fatisthe
namegiventoaclassoftriglyceridesthatappearassolidorsemisolidatroom
temperature,fatsaremainlypresentinanimals.Oilsaretriglyceridesthat
appearasaliquidatroomtemperature,oilsaremainlypresentinplantsand
sometimesinfish.

Mono/polyunsaturatedandsaturated
Thosefattyacidswithnocarboncarbondoublebondsarecalledsaturated.
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Thosefattyacidswithnocarboncarbondoublebondsarecalledsaturated.
Thosethathavetwoormoredoublebondsarecalledpolyunsaturated.Oleic
acidismonounsaturated.

Saturatedfatsaretypicallysolidsandarederivedfromanimals,while
unsaturatedfatsareliquidsandusuallyextractedfromplants.

Unsaturatedfatsassumeaparticulargeometrythatpreventsthemolecules
frompackingasefficientlyastheydoinsaturatedmolecules.Thustheboiling
pointsofunsaturatedfatsislower.

Synthesisandfunctionoflipidsinthebody
Lipidsareutilizedorsynthesizedfromthedietaryfats.Thereareinaddition
numerousbiosyntheticpathwaystobothbreakdownandsynthesizelipidsin
thebody.

Thereare,however,someessentiallipidsthatneedtobeobtainedfromthe
diet.Themainbiologicalfunctionsoflipidsincludestoringenergyaslipidsmay
bebrokendowntoyieldlargeamountsofenergy.Lipidsalsoformthe
structuralcomponentsofcellmembranesandformvariousmessengersand
signallingmoleculeswithinthebody.
ReviewedbyAprilCashinGarbutt,BAHons(Cantab)

Sources
1.http://www.chem.ucla.edu/harding/notes/notes_14C_lipids.pdf
2.http://www.albany.edu/faculty/cs812/bio366/L04_Lipids.pdf
3.http://science.marshall.edu/castella/chm204/chap19.pdf
4.http://ocw.jhsph.edu/courses/humannutrition/PDFs/Lecture4.pdf
5.www.sci.uidaho.edu/.../T2L2M3_Lipids_transcript.pdf
6.www.biochem.wisc.edu/seminars/steenbock/symposium34/34th_Ste
enbock.pdf

FurtherReading
TypesofLipids
LipidBiologicalFunctions
LipidMetabolism
LipidHealthandNutrition
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LipidHealthandNutrition

LastUpdated:Oct9,2012

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