Lipids

Lipids
• Comes from the Greek lipos – fat

• Consist of a heterogeneous group of

compounds that are insoluble in water and
are soluble in non-polar solvents (chloroform,
ether, benzene)
 Biological Functions
• Store chemical energy in the body
• Insulate vital organs
• Covering of nerve fibers
• Components of cell membrane
• Chemical messengers (hormones)
 Lipid Classes
• Fatty acids and their derivatives
• Triacylglycerols
• Waxes
• Phospholipids
• Sphingolipids
• Isoprenoids
 Fatty Acids

• Fatty acids are monocarboxylic acids that

typically contain hydrocarbon chains of
variable lengths (between 12 and 20 carbons)
• basic units of fat composed of chains of
carbon atoms
• an acid group at one end and hydrogen atoms
attached all along their length
• usually contain an even number of carbons
 Fatty Acid
A. Chain Length (number of carbons linked
together)
⚫ Shorter = more soluble in water

B. Saturated vs. Unsaturated (number of

hydrogens the chain is holding)
⚫ Maximum = saturated
⚫ Unsaturated = one or more is missing
⚫ Point of unsaturation = site where hydrogen is
missing
 Fatty Acid

• Saturated fatty acid: a

fatty acid carrying the
maximum possible
number of hydrogen
atoms
– Animal foods such as
meat, poultry and full-fat
dairy products
– Tropical oils such as palm
and coconut
Fatty Acid
• Unsaturated fatty acid: a
fatty acid with one or more
points of unsaturation.
– Found in foods from both
plants & animal sources
• Monounsaturated fatty acids
(one double bond)
• Polyunsaturated fatty acids
(two or more)
• Monounsaturated fatty acid: also called a
MUFA; a fatty acid containing one point of
unsaturation
– Found mostly in vegetable oils such as olive,
canola & peanut

• Polyunsaturated fatty acids: also called a

PUFA; a fatty acid in which two or more
point of unsaturation occur
– Found in nuts, vegetable oils such as
sunflower and soybean, and in fatty fish
 Essential Fatty Acids
• The body can synthesize all of the fatty acids
it needs from carbohydrates, fat or protein
except for two:
1. Linoleic acid (omega-6 fatty acid)
2. Linolenic acid ( omega-3 fatty acid)
– PUFAs
– Found in plant & fish oils
 Triacylglycerols
• Triglycerides: the major class of dietary
lipids, including fats & oils
– Made up of 3 units known as fatty acids
and 1 unit called glycerol (backbone)
– Fats – solid at room temperature, contain
a large proportion of saturated fatty acids
– Oils – liquid at room temperature
because of their relatively high
unsaturated fatty acid content
 Waxes
• esters of fatty acids and long chain alcohols
 Waxes
• Protective coatings on leaves, stems, and
fruits of plants

• Also contain hydrocarbons, alcohols, fatty

acids, aldehydes, and sterols
 Phospholipids
• A lipid consisting of a water-soluble head and a
fat-soluble tail
 Phospholipids
• Contain phosphorous

• Component of cell membranes

• Serve as emulsifiers (allow fats and water to

mix and travel in and out of cells into watery
fluid on both sides)
hydrophilic hydrophobic
 Types of Phospholipids
• Phosphoglycerides/Glycerophospholipids
- molecules that contain glycerol, fatty acids,
phosphate and an alcohol

• Sphingomyelins
- contain sphinosine instead of glycerol
- also classified as sphingolipids
 Sphingolipids
• Important components of animal and plant
membranes

• Contain a long-chain amino alcohol

• The core is ceramide ( a fatty acid amide

derivative of alcohol molecule
 Glycolipids
• The ceramides are also precursors for the
glycolipids, sometimes referred to as the
glycosphingolipids
• In glycolipids a monosaccharide, disaccharide,
or oligosaccharide is attached to a ceramide
through an O-glycosidic linkage
• Differ from sphingomyelin in that it contain no
phosphate
 Isoprenoids
• Vast array of biomolecules that contain
repeating five carbon structural units known
as isoprene units
C
|
C-C=C-C
isoprene unit

• Consist of terpenes and steroids

 Terpenes
• An enormous group of molecules that are found
largely in the essential oils of plants
• Classified according to the number of isoprene
residues they contain
monoterpene – 2 isoprene units (10 C atoms)
geraniol
sesquiterpene – 3 isoprene units (15 C)
farnesene found in oil of citronella
diterpene – 4 (phytol –plant alcohol)
triterpene – 6 (squalene)
Tetraterpene – 8 (carotenoids)
Polyterpene - hundreds or thousands (rubber)
 Steroids
• Derivatives of the hydrocarbon ring system of
cholesterol
• Each type of steroid is composed of four fused
rings
 Membranes
• Most of the properties attributed to living
organisms depend on membranes
• Membranes contain lipid and protein molecules
• Lipids = the major constituent of all biological
membranes
• predominant lipids in membranes contain a polar
head group and two hydrocarbon tails
– glycerophospholipids
– phosphosphingolipids
– glycosphingolipids
 Membrane Lipid
• When amphipathic molecules are suspended
in water, they spontaneously rearrange into
ordered structures
• As these structures form, hydrophobic groups
become buried in the water-depleted interior
• Hydrophilic groups become oriented so that
they are exposed to water
• Largely responsible for several other
important features of biological membranes
 features of biological membranes
• Membrane Fluidity
fluidity – describes the resistance of membrane
components to movement
Membrane’s fluidity is largely determined by the
percentage of unsaturated fatty acids in its
phospholipid molecules

• Selective Permeability
Because of their hydrophobic nature, the hydrocarbon
chains in lipid bilayer provide a virtually impenetrable
barrier to the transport of ionic and polar substances
 features of biological membranes
• Self-sealing capacity
When lipid bilayers are disrupted, they
immediately and spontaneously reseal because a
break in a lipid bilayer exposes the hydrophobic
hydrocarbon chains to water

• Asymmetry
Biological membranes are asymmetric (the lipid
composition of each half of a bilayer is different