β-oxidation, fatty-acid synthesis, ketogenesis, cholesterol/isoprenoid biosynthesis.
Lipid Metabolism
Fatty-acid β-oxidation
Mitochondrial four-step cycle (oxidation/hydration/oxidation/thiolysis) removing 2-carbon units as acetyl-CoA, generating 1 FADH2 + 1 NADH…
Fatty acid synthesis
Cytoplasmic biosynthesis of palmitate from 8 acetyl-CoA via acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) + fatty-acid synthase (FAS, a multifunctional…
Ketogenesis
Hepatic production of acetoacetate + β-hydroxybutyrate + acetone from acetyl-CoA during prolonged fasting, starvation, or uncontrolled…
Cholesterol biosynthesis
Multi-step pathway from acetyl-CoA to cholesterol (~30 enzymatic steps). Rate-limiting step: HMG-CoA reductase (target of statins).…
HMG-CoA reductase
ER-membrane enzyme catalysing HMG-CoA → mevalonate using 2 NADPH — committed/rate-limiting step of cholesterol biosynthesis. Inhibited by…
Mevalonate (MVA) pathway
Eukaryotic/archaeal isoprenoid biosynthesis: acetyl-CoA → HMG-CoA → mevalonate → IPP/DMAPP → farnesyl-PP → squalene → cholesterol +…
Phospholipid biosynthesis
ER-based assembly of glycerophospholipids via the CDP-diacylglycerol or Kennedy (CDP-choline) pathways. Produces PC, PE, PS, PI,…
Lipoprotein
Soluble particles transporting hydrophobic lipids in aqueous blood: chylomicrons, VLDL, LDL, HDL. Classes defined by density;…
Eicosanoid synthesis
Arachidonic acid → COX pathway (prostaglandins, thromboxanes) or LOX pathway (leukotrienes). Targets of NSAIDs (COX inhibitors) and…
Sphingolipid metabolism
Ceramide → sphingomyelin, glycosphingolipids (cerebrosides, gangliosides). Defects cause lysosomal storage diseases (Tay-Sachs, Gaucher,…
β-oxidation cyclic decomposition framework
Mitochondrial fatty-acid β-oxidation: 4-step cycle (acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, enoyl-CoA hydratase, β-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, thiolase)…
Plasma-membrane lipid-asymmetry framework
Plasma membrane outer leaflet enriched in PC and SM; inner leaflet in PE and PS. Asymmetry maintained by ATP-dependent flippases…
Beta oxidation (Knoop 1904)
F Knoop 1904 beta-oxidation discovery via phenyl-fatty-acid feeding; modern carnitine-shuttle + medium-chain-acyl-CoA-DH deficiency…
HMG-CoA (Bloch-Lynen 1964)
Bloch-Lynen 1964 (Nobel 1964) cholesterol synthesis HMG-CoA pathway; modern statins HMGCR-inhibitors $30B/yr market.
Lipoproteins (Fredrickson 1967)
Fredrickson 1967 + Brown-Goldstein 1985 (Nobel 1985) LDL-receptor; modern PCSK9-inhibitors evolocumab 2015.
Lipid rafts (Simons-Ikonen 1997)
Simons-Ikonen 1997 lipid-raft hypothesis; cholesterol + sphingolipid; modern STED-imaging confirms <100 nm domains.
Sphingolipid (Hannun-Obeid 2008)
Hannun-Obeid 2008 'Principles of bioactive lipid signaling'; ceramide-as-second-messenger; modern lipidomics-LC-MS workflow.
Lipid droplet biology
P Bickel 2009 + T Walther 2017 lipid-droplet biogenesis; perilipin family; modern fatty-liver + obesity disease relevance.
Beta-oxidation (Knoop 1904)
F Knoop 1904 + Lynen 1953 (Nobel 1964) β-oxidation; modern modern foundational text + 2024 mass-spec lipidomic mitochondrial-disorder.
Cholesterol biosynthesis (Bloch 1964)
K Bloch-F Lynen 1964 (Nobel 1964) cholesterol-biosynthesis; modern modern foundational + statins Brown-Goldstein Nobel 1985 LDL-receptor.
LDL receptor (Brown-Goldstein 1985)
M Brown-J Goldstein 1985 (Nobel 1985) LDL-receptor; modern modern foundational + PCSK9-inhibitor evolocumab + 2024 inclisiran siRNA.
Lipidomics (Han-Gross 2003)
X Han-R Gross 2003 lipidomics; modern modern foundational text + LIPID-MAPS + 2024 deep-lipidomics ML-driven 100k species annotation.
ACC (Wakil 1958)
S Wakil 1958 + Lane 1971 acetyl-CoA-carboxylase; modern modern foundational text + 2024 ACC-inhibitor firsocostat NASH + obesity.
Eicosanoids (Bergström-Samuelsson 1982)
S Bergström-B Samuelsson-J Vane 1982 (Nobel 1982) prostaglandins; modern modern foundational + COX-2 inhibitor + leukotriene-LTRA asthma.