LysoPC(P-16:0) is a lysophospholipid (LyP). It is a monoglycerophospholipid in which a phosphorylcholine moiety occupies a glycerol substitution site. Lysophosphatidylcholines can have different combinations of fatty acids of varying lengths and saturation attached at the C-1 (sn-1) position. Fatty acids containing 16, 18 and 20 carbons are the most common. LysoPC(P-16:0), in particular, consists of one chain of plasmalogen 16:0 at the C-1 position. The plasmalogen 16:0 moiety is derived from animal fats, liver and kidney. Lysophosphatidylcholine is found in small amounts in most tissues. It is formed by hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine by the enzyme phospholipase A2, as part of the de-acylation/re-acylation cycle that controls its overall molecular species composition. It can also be formed inadvertently during extraction of lipids from tissues if the phospholipase is activated by careless handling. In blood plasma significant amounts of lysophosphatidylcholine are formed by a specific enzyme system, lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT), which is secreted from the liver. The enzyme catalyzes the transfer of the fatty acids of position sn-2 of phosphatidylcholine to the free cholesterol in plasma, with formation of cholesterol esters and lysophosphatidylcholine. Lysophospholipids have a role in lipid signaling by acting on lysophospholipid receptors (LPL-R). LPL-R's are members of the G protein-coupled receptor family of integral membrane proteins. Plasmalogens are glycerol ether phospholipids. They are of two types, alkyl ether (-O-CH2-) and alkenyl ether (-O-CH=CH-). Dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) serves as the glycerol precursor for the synthesis of plasmalogens. Three major classes of plasmalogens have been identified: choline, ethanolamine and serine derivatives. Ethanolamine plasmalogen is prevalent in myelin. Choline plasmalogen is abundant in cardiac tissue. Usually, the highest proportion of the plasmalogen form is in the ethanolamine class with rather less in choline, and commonly little or none in other phospholipids such as phosphatidylinositol. In choline plasmalogens of most tissues, a higher proportion is often of the O-alkyl rather than the O-alkenyl form, but the reverse tends to be true in heart lipids. In animal tissues, the alkyl and alkenyl moieties in both non-polar and phospholipids tend to be rather simple in composition with 16:0, 18:0 and 18:1 (double bond in position 9) predominating. Ether analogues of triacylglycerols, i.e. 1-alkyldiacyl-sn-glycerols, are present at trace levels only if at all in most animal tissues, but they can be major components of some marine lipids.