Palmitate modifies both peripheral and integral membrane proteins and its addition can be permanent or transient, which makes it unique among the lipid modifications of proteins.
The presence of palmitate on a protein affects how the protein interacts with lipids and proteins in a membrane compartment, and the reversibility of palmitoylation allows different modes of trafficking between membrane compartments.
Pathology
Mutations in ZDHHC9, which encodes a palmitoyltransferase of NRAS and HRAS, cause X-linked mental retardation associated with a Marfanoid habitus (17436253)
References
Linder ME, Deschenes RJ. Palmitoylation: policing protein stability and traffic. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2007 Jan;8(1):74-84. PMID: 17183362
Bijlmakers MJ, Marsh M. The on-off story of protein palmitoylation. Trends Cell Biol. 2003 Jan;13(1):32-42. PMID: 12480338