Lipids are fundamental organic molecules that are utilized by the human body for a number of essential cellular processes. Broadly speaking, lipids can be classified into five major subcategories. These include fatty acids, triglycerides, phospholipids, sterol lipids and sphingolipids. Significant diversity in lipid structure exists, with between 1000 and 2000 different lipid species thought to exist in mammalian biological systems. The importance of lipids to biological systems is highlighted by the fact that 5% of all human genes are devoted to lipid synthesis .
The brain makes great use of all five classes of lipids, and contains the second highest concentration of lipids in the human body. In this review, we discuss their individual structure, synthesis, and transport in the context of brain function. We then discuss their roles in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) pathogenesis and discuss how modulating lipid function may offer novel therapeutic options.
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