Lysophospholipid acyltransferases orchestrate the compositional diversity of phospholipids

Lysophospholipid acyltransferases (LPLATs), in concert with glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferases (GPATs) and phospholipase A1/2s, orchestrate the compositional diversity of the fatty chains in membrane phospholipids. Fourteen LPLAT enzymes which come from two distinct families, AGPAT and MBOAT, have been identified, and in this mini-review we provide an overview of their roles in de novo and remodeling pathways of membrane phospholipid biosynthesis. Recently new nomenclature for LPLATs has been introduced (LPLATx, where x is a number 1–14), and we also give an overview of key biological functions that have been discovered for LPLAT1-14, revealed primarily through studies of LPLAT-gene-deficient mice as well as by linkages to various human diseases. [Display omitted] •LPLATs regulate fatty acid chain compositions of biological membranes.•Diverse phospholipid compositions that vary by biological contexts.•Kennedy pathway of new phospholipid synthesis and Lands' cycle of phospholipid remodeling.•Fourteen mammalian LPLATs of two families - AGPAT (LPLAT1-10) and MBOAT (LPLAT11-14).•Biological roles of LPLATs revealed by gene-deficient mice and human disease associations.