The Anatomy and Physiology of Lipids Essay -- Anatomy Physiology Lipid

The Anatomy and Physiology of Lipids Abstract When you get up each morning and look outside your window looking out at the beautiful plants and adorable little animals, have you ever wondered what makes all living things? Lipids are what help create all the living things we see everyday. Lipids are found in all membranes, mainly plasma membranes, meaning animals and plants contain lipids. In this paper I will display and explain the formation of micelles and bi-layers from lipid amphiphilicity. A variety of books were used to study different types of lipids; the three major components, glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids, and sterols, and their affects in the cellular and multicultural systems. 3 Lipids are structural components found in living cells that are either soluble in organic solvents or insoluble in water.1 These lipid membranes are demonstrated in Singer and Nicolson’s 1972 fluid mosaic model. Lipids are commonly recognized as fats, oils, wax, etc. There are three major different types of lipids that exist: glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids, and sterols.2 Within each type there are a variety of subtypes. Glycerophospholipids are commonly referred to as plain phospholipids. Within itself it contains three components. First it is constructed with a phosphorylated head group, then a three carbon glycerol backbone, and finally a two hydrocarbon fatty acid chains. The phosphorylated head group is attached to one of the glycerol hydroxyls with addition to the two hydrocarbon fatty acid chains bonded to the other two glycerol hydroxyls.3 The purpose for glycerophospholipids is to construct and or maintain the cell membrane. In a microscopic view of the cell membrane we can observe that the glyceropho... ... Guardiola, Francesc, ed. Cholesterol and Phytosterol Oxidation Products : Analysis, Occurrence, and Biological Effects. New York: AOCS P, 2002. Hooper, Nigel, and David Hames. Instant Notes in Biochemistry. New York: Taylor & Francis Group, 2005. Kreuzer, F. and J.F.G. Slegers. Biomembranes Vol. 3 : Passive Permeability of Cell Membranes. New York; Plenum Press, 1972. "Lipid bilayer." Wikipedia. 24 July 2008 . "Micelle." Wikipedia. 26 July 2008 . Mukherjee, Kumar D. CRC Handbook of Chromotography Vol. 3 : Analysis of Lipidsseries. New York: CRC P, 1993. Perkins, Edward G. Analyses if Fats, Oils and Lipoproteins. Illinois: American Oil Chemists’ Society, 1991. Vance, Deenis E, and Jean E. Vance. Biochemistry of Lipids, Lipoproteins and Membranes. Amesterdam: Elsevier, 1991.