From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Phospholipase cleavage sites. Note that an enzyme that displays both PLA1 and PLA2 activities is called a Phospholipase B.

A phospholipase is an enzyme that hydrolyzes phospholipids[1] into fatty acids and other lipophilic substances. There are four major classes, termed A, B, C and D, distinguished by the type of reaction which they catalyze:

Types C and D are considered phosphodiesterases.

Phospholipase A2 acts on the intact lecithin molecule and hydrolyses the fatty acid esterified to the second carbon atom. The resulting products are lysolecithin and a fatty acid. Phospholipase A2 is an enzyme present in the venom of bees and viper snakes.[2]

See also[edit]


  1. ^ "phospholipase" at Dorland's Medical Dictionary
  2. ^ D. M. Vasudevan & S. Sreekumari, Textbook of Biochemistry (5th ed.)

Further Reading[edit]

External links[edit]