Logo image
Back
Dihydroceramides: From Bit Players to Lead Actors
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Dihydroceramides: From Bit Players to Lead Actors

Monowarul Mobin Siddique, Ying Li, Bhagirath Chaurasia, Vincent A. Kaddai and Scott A. Summers
The Journal of biological chemistry, Vol.290(25), pp.15371-15379
06/19/2015
DOI: 10.1074/jbc.R115.653204
PMCID: PMC4505450
PMID: 25947377
url
https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.R115.653204View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Sphingolipid synthesis involves a highly conserved biosynthetic pathway that produces fundamental precursors of complex sphingolipids. The final reaction involves the insertion of a double bond into dihydroceramides to generate the more abundant ceramides, which are converted to sphingomyelins and glucosylceramides/gangliosides by the addition of polar head groups. Although ceramides have long been known to mediate cellular stress responses, the dihydroceramides that are transiently produced during de novo sphingolipid synthesis were deemed inert. Evidence published in the last few years suggests that these dihydroceramides accumulate to a far greater extent in tissues than previously thought. Moreover, they have biological functions that are distinct and non-overlapping with those of the more prevalent ceramides. Roles are being uncovered in autophagy, hypoxia, and cellular proliferation, and the lipids are now implicated in the etiology, treatment, and/or diagnosis of diabetes, cancer, ischemia/reperfusion injury, and neurodegenerative diseases. This minireview summarizes recent findings on this emerging class of bioactive lipids.
 Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Science & Technology

Details

Metrics

10 Record Views
117 Times Cited - Web of Science
Logo image