Saturday, 24 November 2007

biochemistry - Which hydroxyl from either the phosphate or the glycerol is taken during synthesis of a phospholipid head?

My recollection is that the formation of a phospholipid normally involves acylation of glycerol 3-phosphate. Glycerol 3-phosphate is a glycolytic intermediate, and so there is no actual phosphorylation of a glycerol; the phosphate on the glycerol will have come from the phosphorylation of glucose or of fructose 6-phosphate.



In a kinase reaction the oxygen of the -OH in the acceptor acts as a nucleophile at the P of the phosphate, so in terms of your question the O atom comes from the acceptor, not the donor. Presumably if there was a glycerol kinase (I expect there is) it would have the same mechanism so the O would come from the glycerol.

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