Liver disease: Lecithin—cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) activity may be decreased in obstructive liver disease.
Lecithin—cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT, also called phosphatidylcholine-sterol O-acyltransferase) is an enzyme that converts free cholesterol into cholesteryl ester (a more hydrophobic form of cholesterol), which is then sequestered into the core of a lipoprotein particle, eventually making the newly synthesized HDL spherical and forcing the reaction to become unidirectional since the particles are removed from the surface.
cholesterol | lecithin | Lecithin—cholesterol acyltransferase | Lecithin | LDL-C, or "bad" cholesterol | Acetyl-CoA C-acyltransferase |
Egg lecithin was first isolated in 1846 by the French chemist and pharmacist Theodore Gobley.
Thin layer chromatography (TLC) is performed on the supernatant, which separates out the components.
He started a professional career as a lawyer before marrying one of the daughters of Theodore Gobley, a French chemist known for research on the brain, who also discovered lecithin and phospholipids.
The first phospholipid identified as such in biological tissues was lecithin, or phosphatidylcholine, in the egg yolk, by Theodore Nicolas Gobley, a French chemist and pharmacist, in 1847.
Other than sophorolipids, common biosurfactants include rhamnolipids which can be produced by some species of Pseudomonas, and Lecithin which can be obtained either from soybean or from egg yolk and is a common food ingredient.