Meibogenesis – a network of biosynthetic reactions in meibomian glands of humans and mice that lead to biosynthesis of meibum [modified from (Butovich et al., 2016)].
Major confirmed final lipid products of meibogenesis are shown in red. Intermediate products are shown in grey. Key enzymes are shown in blue. The presence and nature of meibomian lipids have been established in GC-MS and HPLC-MS experiments. The nature of enzymes has been predicted from their respective gene expression patterns, and confirmed (for some of them) using immunohistochemical and immunocytochemical approaches [(Butovich et al., 2016) and references cited therein].