sphingo-

Compounds isolated from the brain and nervous tissue.

Greek Sphinx, Sphing‑, Sphinx (a monster in Greek mythology that set people riddles, killing those who could not answer them) originally in the name of the compound sphingosine, with reference to its enigmatic nature.

Sphingosine is a constituent of a number of substances important in the metabolism of nerve cells, especially sphingomyelins, which occur widely in brain and nervous tissue; sphingolipids are members of a class of compounds which are fatty acid derivatives of sphingosine and occur chiefly in the cell membranes of the brain and nervous tissue.