Spectroscopic evidence for the unusual handedness of a mammalian lipid may advance our understanding of evolution
Friday, March 23, 2012 - 09:30
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Phospholipids are the main constituents of the cellular membranes in all organisms, ranging from single-celled archaea to highly complex plants and mammals. According to conventional wisdom, the chemical backbone of phospholipids in archaea is right-handed, but left-handed in all other organisms (Fig. 1). The little-understood mammalian phospholipid bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate (BMP), however, is a possible exception to this rule. Peter Greimel, HuiHui Tan and their colleagues at the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute, Wako, have now obtained the first proof that BMP is indeed right-handed.