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Glite Dictionary
phospholipid

phospholipid

1 7.7
A fat-like molecule that makes up cell membranes
  • noun
  • /ˌfɑsfoʊˈlɪpɪd/
  • Specialized
: fosfolípido
  • Understanding how phospholipids function can help us grasp the basics of cell biology.
  • phospholipid molecules
  • phospholipid membrane
  • phospholipid nutrients

Phosphotitis serine is a phospholipid that is an integral part to your brain cell.

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Examples

  • What is the basic thing that causes a neuron to fire is a cell membrane which consists of a phospholipid bilayer.

  • We should find phospholipid, amino acids, cholesterol, creatinine and protein.

    The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

  • And then there are the phospholipids shown down here.

  • So this is much more similar to the portion of the phospholipid that does not want to be juxtaposed to water.

  • But serine and glycine also used to make phospholipid head groups.

  • And so you get a phospholipid that's made of of choline and two lipid chains.

  • Others suggest that the surfaces of lipids could achieve the same result, but most recent attention has been focused on hollow containers, or vesicles, made of bilayers of phospholipid molecules -- or in some versions, of fatty acids.

    Academic text (2013)

  • Ultimately, the TAG droplet becomes coated with a monolayer of phospholipid and a cadre of proteins that stabilize it within the cytoplasm of cells (14).

    Blog text (27)

  • Additionally, the Cide proteins have regions of homology with PLIN1, including a hydrophobic domain thought to be important for binding to the phospholipid monolayer of the droplet (57).

    Blog text (27)

  • The phospholipid bilayer plays a crucial role in maintaining the integrity of the cell.

Synonyms

lipid
vsphospholipid
  • Specialized
16 4.4

Fats and oils that do not mix with water and help build cell membranes

is a specific subgroup that contains a phosphate group and forms membranes

Surface Forms

phospholipid singular
phospholipids plural

Morphology

phospholipid = lipid (semi-transparent) = phospho + lipid

The term 'phospho' indicates the presence of a phosphate group, which is not immediately obvious to all learners.

Etymology

The word phospholipid breaks down into phospho-, from a word meaning 'light' used for the element phosphorus and for phosphate, and lipid, meaning 'fat'. So a phospholipid is a fat that has a phosphate part, and these molecules are the main building blocks of cell membranes.