Health Boards


Encyclopedia


My Profile

Health Boad


Health Jobs


Shopping


Health Tools

hopanoid

Hopanoid is a chemical component in the cytoplasmic membranes of many bacteria. Hopanoid is a pentacyclic saturated derivative of mevalonic acid (mevalonic acid is a key intermediate in cholesterol biosynthesis) and is assumed to be functioning in a similar way to sterols, which serve to stabilize the structure of eukaryotic membranes. While sterols can make up 5-25 percent of the total lipids of eukaryotic membranes, they are absent from most of the prokaryotic membranes.


Selected hopanoid links:

© 1997-2006 Healthboard.com.   Healthboard.com is a purely informational website, and should not be used as a substitute for professional legal, medical or technical advice.