Lignoceric acid

Lignoceric acid, or tetracosanoic acid, is a saturated fatty acid with 24 carbon atoms. It occurs in plant and animal fats and is a component of sphingolipids.

Fatty acid: A carboxylic acid with a hydrocarbon chain, commonly serving as a component of lipids. Lignoceric acid is one member of this molecular family.
Fatty acid elongation: A biosynthetic process that lengthens fatty-acid chains by adding two-carbon units. Repeated elongation produces very-long chains such as lignoceric acid.
Carnauba wax: A hard plant wax obtained from leaves of the carnauba palm, containing long-chain fatty acids and esters. Lignoceric acid is among the long-chain acids reported in this wax.
Adrenoleukodystrophy: An inherited disorder in which very-long-chain fatty acids accumulate, especially in the nervous system and adrenal cortex. Defective peroxisomal handling can cause accumulation of C24 lignoceric acid and related acids.
Saturated fat: A fat whose constituent fatty-acid chains contain no carbon–carbon double bonds. Lignoceric acid’s carbon chain has no double bonds.
Fatty acid synthase: A multienzyme complex that synthesizes long-chain fatty acids, mainly palmitate, from acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA. Lignoceric acid generally requires elongation beyond fatty acid synthase’s main product.
Peanut oil: A vegetable oil pressed from peanut seeds, composed chiefly of triglycerides. Lignoceric acid occurs as a minor fatty-acid component of peanut oil.
ABCD1: A gene encoding a peroxisomal membrane transporter involved in importing very-long-chain fatty acyl-CoAs. ABCD1 dysfunction impairs degradation of lignocerate-containing very-long-chain fatty acids.
Carboxylic acid: An organic compound containing a carboxyl group, written –COOH. Its terminal carboxyl group gives lignoceric acid its acid identity.
ELOVL1: An endoplasmic-reticulum enzyme that elongates saturated and monounsaturated very-long-chain fatty acids. ELOVL1 participates in producing C24 chains used in sphingolipids.

Linked from 1 page

Arachidic acidCompared with: It extends the same saturated-chain series beyond arachidic acid.