While the fatty acids are present as esters of glycerol or phosphoglycerol, other glycerol derivatives are known, such as glycerol ethers, which are known as plasmalogens.
These are the monoacyl monoalk-1-enyl ether forms of phospholipids. Choline and ethanolamine plasmalogens are the most common forms, although serine plasmalogen has also been found.
The plasmalogens are a group of lipid found in nerve and muscle cells. They are abundant in cholesterol-rich biological membranes such as myelin and the plasma membrane of red blood cells.
It is evident that plasmalogens play important roles in neural cells, not only in signal transduction processes, but also in membrane fusion and antioxidant activity.
The plasmalogens have an unsaturated alkane as the functional group attached to the glycerol backbone.
Plasmalogens synthesis takes place through a series of enzyme reactions, some of which are confined to the peroxisome.
Definition of plasmalogen
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