Lipid metabolism in the central nervous system

SALVADOR, GABRIELA; PASQUARÉ, SUSANA; ILINCHETA, MÓNICA; ZULIAN, SANDRA; URANGA, ROMINA; MATEOS, MELINA; GIUSTO, NORMA

Advances in Lipid Metabolism, 2008

Research Signpost

Lugar: Kerala, India; Año: 2008; p. 131 - 157

Lipids are at present classified into 8 catgories, namely, fatty acids, glycerolipids, glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids, sterol lipids, prenol lipids, saccharolipids, and polyketides, all of which contain different classes and subclasses of molecules. Lipid metabolism is particularly important for the nervous system whose concentration of lipids is only exceeded by adipose tissue. The finding of deregulated lipid metabolism in several neurological disorders constitutes the starting point for the study of the involvement of lipid signaling mechanisms in nervous system physiology.  Glycerophospholipids are important components of all mammalian cells and they play different biological roles, namely, they form lipid bilayers which provide the structural integrity that is necessary for protein function and they serve as precursors for various second messengers such as arachidonic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, ceramide, 1,2-diacylglycerol, monoacylglycerol, phosphatidic acid, and lysophosphatidic acid. In this chapter, we will describe the following lipid signal transduction pathways: lipid phosphate phosphatases (LPPs), phospholipases A2, C and D (PLA2, PLC, PLD), diacylglycerol lipases and kinases (DAGL, DAGK), and phosphoinositide kinases that generate a variety of bioactive lipids which participate in numerous cellular events. We will also summerize the role of these enzymatic pathways in both the physiology and pathophysiology of the central nervous system.