phospholipids


phospholipids

A class of lipids containing a platform which may be glycerol or sphingosine, to which are attached one or more fatty acids and a phosphate group with an alcohol linked to it. Phosphoglycerides resemble triglycerides except that one of the fatty acids is replaced by the phosphate-alcohol group. The fatty acid elements are hydrophobic while the rest of the molecule is hydrophilic. The effect of this is that phospholipids readily form membranous structures in water and are abundant in all biological membranes.