Chemistry 451

Lecture #10: Lipids

Read: pg. 219-233

HW:

1. Correct Quiz

2. pg. 238 (1, 3, 6)

Optional HW: pg 237 (Study exercises; 1, 2, 3) pg 238 (4, 5)

Objectives:

  1. Know that lipid is a "catch-all" term for hydrophobic biomolecules.
  2. Know the structure of triglycerides formed through condensation of glycerol and fatty acids.
  3. Know general structure, nomenclature and physical and biological properties of saturated, unsaturated (1 double bond; typically D 9) and polyunsaturated (more than 1 double bond) fatty acids.
  4. Relate phospholipid structure to function (e.g., cell membranes, lung surfactant, second messenger).
  5. Be familiar with polar and nonpolar components of spingolipids (sphingomyelins, cerebrosides and gangliosides). What function is served by the carbohydrate moiety of gangliosides?

References of interest:

Stampfer MJ, Hu FB, Manson JE, Rimm EB, Willett WC. Primary prevention of coronary heart disease in women through diet and lifestyle. N Engl J Med. 2000 Jul 6;343(1):16-22.

Young TK, Gerrard JM, O'Neil JD. Plasma phospholipid fatty acids in the central Canadian arctic: biocultural explanations for ethnic differences. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1999 May;109(1):9-18.

Innis SM, Kuhnlein HV.The fatty acid composition of Northern-Canadian marine and terrestrial mammals. Acta Med Scand. 1987;222(2):105-9.

Hoppner K, McLaughlan JM, Shah BG, Thompson JN, Beare-Rogers J, Ellestad-Sayed J, Schaefer O. Nutrient levels of some foods of Eskimos from Artic Bay, N. W.T., Canada. J Am Diet Assoc. 1978 Sep;73(3):257-60.

Irving, L. Schmidt-Nielsen, K, Abrahamson, N. 1957. On the melting points of animal fats in cold climate. Physiol Zool 30:93-107. (Shows that the melting points of marrow fats declines as sampled from central to distal bones, but apparently this occurs fairly generally in mammals and is not necessarily unique in cold climates. Also see, Meng, M., West, G. C., Irving L. 1969. Fatty acid composition of caribou bone marrow. Comp Biochem Physiol 30:187-191