In recent years, the relationship of acidic phospholipids such as phosphatidic acid, phosphatidylglycerol, and cardiolipin to physiological functions and diseases in vivo has been revealed. This review describes the interesting physiological functions of acidic phospholipids and the acidic phospholipid-specific phospholipases founded by the authors.

Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) is a glycolipid utilized for post-translational modification of proteins in eukaryotes and plays a role in anchoring modified proteins to the cell membrane. In yeast, there are over 60 kinds, and in humans, more than 150 kinds of diverse GPI-anchored proteins (GPI-APs) exist. GPI is biosynthesized from phosphatidylinositol (PI) on the endoplasmic reticulum membrane, and after being attached to a protein, the GPI-APs are transported to the cell surface via the Golgi apparatus. In mammalian cells, the biosynthesis of GPI-APs requires more than 20 steps, and it has been revealed that over 30 genes are involved. This review outlines the biosynthesis of mammalian GPI-APs and the enzymes involved, and introduces recent findings.

The decrease and aging of agricultural workers demand labor-saving technologies. In addition, the increase of used plastics on the earth is a major problem, and countermeasures are urgently needed. This paper explains these social conditions and clarifies the needs for biodegradable plastic products. Next, we introduce the development of biodegradable plastic degrading enzymes to promote the degradation of durable biodegradable plastic agricultural mulch films at the timing intended by users. In the future, the development of new applications for plastics is expected by combining various biodegradable plastic products with degrading enzymes.