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Prostaglandins and Other Eicosanoids

المؤلف:  ..................

المصدر:  LibreTexts Project

الجزء والصفحة:  .................

21-12-2019

2668

Prostaglandins and Other Eicosanoids

Prostaglandins were first discovered and isolated from human semen in the 1930s by Ulf von Euler of Sweden. Thinking they had come from the prostate gland, he named them prostaglandins. It has since been determined that they exist and are synthesized in virtually every cell of the body. Prostaglandins, are like hormones in that they act as chemical messengers, but do not move to other sites, but work right within the cells where they are synthesized.

Prostaglandins are unsaturated carboxylic acids, consisting of of a 20 carbon skeleton that also contains a five member ring. They are biochemically synthesized from the fatty acid, arachidonic acid. See the graphic below. The unique shape of the arachidonic acid caused by a series of cis double bonds helps to put it into position to make the five member ring of the prostaglandin.