Oligodendrocytes generate multiple layers of myelin membrane around axons of the central
nervous system to enable fast and efficient nerve conduction. Until recently, saltatory nerve …

Sphingolipids are highly enriched in the nervous system where they are pivotal constituents
of the plasma membranes and are important for proper brain development and functions …

Metachromatic leukodystrophy is a lysosomal storage disease, which is characterized by
damage of the myelin sheath that covers most of nerve fibers of the central and peripheral …

▪ Abstract Researchers have long predicted that complex carbohydrates on cell surfaces
would play important roles in developmental processes because of the observation that …

Glycerol-based ether lipids including ether phospholipids form a specialized branch of lipids
that in mammals require peroxisomes for their biosynthesis. They are major components of …

Rapid conduction of nerve impulses requires coating of axons by myelin sheaths, which are
lipid-rich and multilamellar membrane stacks. The lipid composition of myelin varies …

Ceramide (Cer) is a structural backbone of sphingolipids and is composed of a long-chain
base and a fatty acid. Existence of a variety of Cer species, which differ in chain-length …

Efficient and rapid propagation of action potentials in myelinated axons depends on the
molecular specialization of the nodes of Ranvier. The nodal region is organized into several …

Sulfatide is 3-O-sulfogalactosylceramide that is synthesized by two transferases (ceramide
galactosyltransferase and cerebroside sulfotransferase) from ceramide and is specifically …

Nervonic acid, a 24-carbon fatty acid with only one double bond at the 9th carbon (C24: 1n-
9), is abundant in the human brain, liver, and kidney. It not only functions in free form but …