J.H. Exton, "Signaling through phosphatidylcholine breakdown," The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 265, 1-4, 5 January 1990.

John H. Exton (Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tenn.): "This article was designed to alert readers to the existence of what appears to be a novel cellular signaling system involving the breakdown of phosphatidylcholine to phosphatidic acid. It arose out of the realization that the accumulation of phosphatidic acid in stimulated cells could not be explained by the `in vogue' phosphoinositide hypothesis. The phosphoinositide gurus were not happy to see this upstart hypothesis, and this `hot' topic initially received a very `cold' reception! Although the system has many of the hallmarks of being involved in signal transduction, its significance in cell physiology is still very unclear. For example, many investigators believe that phosphatidic acid is an important signal in cells, but don't know why. I think that the system has attracted attention because...

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