Sphingomyelin is a type of sphingolipid found in animal cell membranes, especially in the membranous myelin sheath which surrounds some nerve cell axons. Like all sphingolipids, it consists of sphingosine bonded to one fatty acid and one polar head group, which, in sphingomyelins, is either phosphocholine or phosphoethanolamine. The fatty acid is attached to the second carbon of sphingosine via an amide linkage. The function of sphingomyelin remained unclear until recently when it was found to have a function in signal transduction. Sphingomyelin is only found in the exoplasmic face of the cell membrane. General chemical structure of sphingolipids. ... Sphingosine is a compound that forms a primary part of the sphingolipids, a class of cell membrane lipids which includes sphingomyelin, an important phospholipid. ... In chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid often with a long unbranched aliphatic tail (chain), which either saturated or unsaturated. ... Phosphocholine (PC) is an intermediate in the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine in tissues. ... Amide functional group In chemistry, an amide is one of two kinds of compounds: - the organic functional group characterized by a carbonyl group (C=O) linked to a nitrogen atom (N), or a compound that contains this functional group (pictured to the right); or - a particular kind of nitrogen anion. ... In biology, signal transduction is any process by which a cell converts one kind of signal or stimulus into another. ...

Sphingomyelin

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