Phosphatidic Acid (PA)

BOC Sciences provides a variety of PA for different applications. Our high-quality PA products are perfectly suited for your liposome preparation needs.

What is PA

Phosphatidic acid (PA) is a component of cell membranes and is a common phospholipid. PA is the simplest diacylglycerophospholipid (parent compound of glycerophospholipids).

Structure of PA

The phosphatidic acid molecule contains a glycerol backbone. PA is based on the structure of glycerol. It is formed by replacing the hydroxyl group at position 1 of the glycerol molecule with a saturated fatty acyl group, the hydroxyl group at position 2 with an unsaturated fatty acyl group, and the hydroxyl group at position 3 with a phosphate group (fatty acid esterification).

Fig. 1 Structure of phosphatidic acid (Tanguy E, 2018)

Production and Degradation of PA

• De novo synthesis
• PA is obtained by hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine (PC) under the action of phospholipase D (PLD)
• Diacylglycerol (DAG) is phosphorylated by diacylglycerol kinase (DAGK) to obtain PA
• Derived from the acylation of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) by the action of lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase (LPAAT) (most common)
• PA can be degraded to diacylglycerol (DAG) catalyzed by phospholipid hydrolases (LPPs) and to lysophosphatidic acid (LAP) catalyzed by phospholipase A (PLA)

The Function of PA in the Cell

• As a synthetic precursor for other lipids
• Influence membrane curvature by their physical properties
• Act as a signaling lipid molecules

Safety of PA

Natural raw materials. Mainly selected from egg yolk, soybean, biotechnology, etc. to prepare PA.

Reference

1. Tanguy E; et al. Protein⁻Phospholipid Interaction Motifs: A Focus on Phosphatidic Acid. Biomolecules. 2018 Apr 23; 8(2): 20.