The hydrophilic head is composed of a choline structure (blue) and a phosphate (orange). This head is connected to a glycerol (green) with two hydrophobic tails (purple) called fatty acids.

Both types of membranes have a specialized structure that ... fatty acid chains. Glycerol is a three-carbon molecule that functions as the backbone of these membrane lipids. Within an individual ...

Lipids serve several important physiologic functions ... in circulating lipoproteins and converted to fatty acids and glycerol through lipolysis. Fatty acids are a major energy source for muscle ...