This product is a tetraether monosaccharide phospholipid of high purity and is the main phospholipid (MPL) of Thermoplasma acidophilum. It contains a glycerophosphate and a gulosyl pyranoside monosaccharide linked via a tetrather chain. The MPL is largely responsible for T. acidophilum’s ability to survive in low pH (1-2) and high temperatures (55- 59°C)1 and constitutes almost half of the total lipids.2 MPL is useful for making liposomes to study various molecular functions.3 It has been found to be valuable in the development and application of model membrane systems on the basis of tetraether lipids as demonstrated by the integral membrane protein alamethicin and the peripheral proteins melittin, valinomycin, and nonactin which interact primarily with lipid head groups and are readily incorporated into the tetraether lipid structures. Growth of various living cell types was not affected by the MPL and when MPL liposomes were injected into mice no pharmacological or toxic effects were detected other than increased behavioural activity. Labeled MPL liposomes were found to be rapidly cleared from the circulation.4
