Enantiomers of Natural Lipids

Lipids are one of the most abundant biological molecules. Phospholipids are the major constituents of biological membrane bilayers. Glycerophospholipids are comprised of a glycerol backbone connected to a hydrophilic head group by a phosphodiester group at the sn-3 position and substituted via an ester linkage with two hydrophobic fatty acids. Due to this structure, there is one chiral center located at the sn-2 position of the glycerol backbone. This chirality is very important for many biological processes. The enantiomers of glycerophospholipids are beneficial lipid probes that can be used to investigate the chirality-specific actions of membrane lipids. Avanti offers several enantiomers of naturally occurring glycerophospholipids such as phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine.

Murata M., Yano Y., Hanashima S. (2020) Enantiomers of phospholipids and cholesterol: A key to decipher lipid-lipid interplay in membrane. Chirality, 32. https://doi.org/10.1002/chir.2...