ABSTRACT
Lipases, the lipolytic enzymes able to degrade phospholipids, are grouped into two categories: acylhydrolases and phosphodiesterases. The nomenclature of phospholipases is based on the position of their attack on the phospholipid. Phospholipase splits the sn-1 fatty-acyl ester bond; phospholipase A2 splits the sn-2 fatty-acyl ester bond; phospholipase B splits both or the remaining ester in the lysophospholipid; phospholipase C attacks the diglyceride-phosphate link; and phospholipase D, the choline-phosphate link (Fig. 1).
