| Description |
PE(18:0/20:0) is a phosphatidylethanolamine. It is a glycerophospholipid in which a phosphorylethanolamine moiety occupies a glycerol substitution site. As is the case with diacylglycerols, glycerophosphoethanolamines can have many different combinations of fatty acids of varying lengths and saturation attached to the C-1 and C-2 atoms. PE(18:0/20:0), in particular, consists of one octadecanoyl chain to the C-1 atom, and one eicosanoyl to the C-2 atom. While most phospholipids have a saturated fatty acid on C-1 and an unsaturated fatty acid on C-2 of the glycerol backbone, the fatty acid distribution at the C-1 and C-2 positions of glycerol within phospholipids is continually in flux, owing to phospholipid degradation and the continuous phospholipid remodeling that occurs while these molecules are in membranes. PEs are neutral zwitterions at physiological pH. They mostly have palmitic or stearic acid on carbon 1 and a long chain unsaturated fatty acid (e.g. 18:2, 20:4 and 22:6) on carbon 2. PE synthesis can occur via two pathways. The first requires that ethanolamine be activated by phosphorylation and then coupled to CDP. The ethanolamine is then transferred from CDP-ethanolamine to phosphatidic acid to yield PE. The second involves the decarboxylation of PS. |
