Bioactive lipids and their receptors

Recent studies show that several, if not all, degradative products of glycerol- and sphingosine-based lipids are active molecules that play important roles in different signal transduction pathways. The functions and actions of lysophosphatidic acid and sphingosine 1-phosphate, the degradation products of phospholipids and sphingolipids, respectively, have received a great deal of attention during the past few years. These lipid mediators are active through several abundant G protein-coupled receptors that were recently identified and characterized. This review will discuss recent achievements in the area of bioactive lipids.