Palmitoyl chain

Palmitoyl chains are palmitate residues covalently attached to a cysteine residue through a thioester bond. Because of their hydrophobic nature, palmitoyl chains tend to be buried inside lipid-rich environments, e.g. the plasma membrane. Thus, proteins bearing cysteines with palmitoyl chains can be tethered by such anchors to the plasma membrane despite their hydrophilic properties.