title: Polyisoprenoid alcohols--recent results of structural studies.
abstract: Polyisoprenoid alcohols (polyprenols and dolichols) are linear polymers of from several up to more than 100 isoprene units identified in almost all living organisms. Studies of their chemical structures have resulted in the discovery of new variants such as the recently described alloprenols with reversed configuration of the double bond in the alpha-isoprene unit. In parallel, structural elucidation of metabolically labeled plant dolichols has indicated that both the mevalonate and methylerythritol phosphate pathways are involved in the biosynthesis of dolichols in roots, leading to the construction of a spatial model of their biosynthesis. According to this model, in root cells, synthesis of the dolichol molecule is initiated in the plastids, and the resulting intermediates, oligoprenyl diphosphates, are exported to the cytoplasm and are elongated up to the desired chain length. The metabolic consequences of this putative model are discussed in the context of the enzymatic machinery involved.
authors.affiliation: Department of Lipid Biochemistry, Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawinskiego 5a, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Karolina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Skorupinska-Tudek
authors.forename: Jacek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wojcik
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Swiezewska
mesh_terms: D005233:Fatty Alcohols / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D015394:Molecular Structure; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D011106:Polyisoprenyl Phosphates / Q000378:metabolism; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D013729:Terpenes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005233:Fatty Alcohols; D011106:Polyisoprenyl Phosphates; D011108:Polymers; D013729:Terpenes