Wax and plasmalogen biosynthesis

Waxes are esters of long chain fatty acids and long chain fatty alcohols that play an important role in protecting the skin surface from drying and abrasion (Cheng & Russell 2004a,b). Plasmalogens are an abundant subclass of phospholipids. While their functions are not well understood, defects in their metabolism are associated with serious human disease (de Vet et al. 1999; Nagan and Zoeller 2001). The biosynthesis of these two classes of molecules both start with the reduction of palmitoyl-CoA (PALM-CoA) to hexadecan-1-ol (HXOL) so it is convenient to group them here.

Summary from Reactome (R-HSA-8848584), read 2026-09-23.