scholarly journals Role of sphingolipid metabolism in neurodegeneration

Author(s):  
Manal Alaamery ◽  
Nour Albesher ◽  
Nora Aljawini ◽  
Moneera Alsuwailm ◽  
Salam Massadeh ◽  
...  
Biomolecules ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Victor Blokhin ◽  
Maria Shupik ◽  
Ulyana Gutner ◽  
Ekaterina Pavlova ◽  
Albert T. Lebedev ◽  
...  

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease incurable due to late diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, one of the priorities of neurology is to study the mechanisms of PD pathogenesis at the preclinical and early clinical stages. Given the important role of sphingolipids in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, we aimed to analyze the gene expression of key sphingolipid metabolism enzymes (ASAH1, ASAH2, CERS1, CERS3, CERS5, GBA1, SMPD1, SMPD2, UGCG) and the content of 32 sphingolipids (subspecies of ceramides, sphingomyelins, monohexosylceramides and sphinganine, sphingosine, and sphingosine-1-phosphate) in the nigrostriatal system in 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) mouse models of the preclinical and clinical stages of PD. It has been shown that in PD models, the expression of five of the nine studied genes (CERS1, CERS5, ASAH1, ASAH2, and GBA1) increases but only in the substantia nigra (SN) containing dopaminergic cell bodies. Changes in the expression of enzyme genes were accompanied by an increase in the content of 7 of the 32 studied sphingolipids. Such findings suggest these genes as attractive candidates for diagnostic purposes for preclinical and clinical stages of PD.


BMC Genomics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hye-Seon Kim ◽  
Jessica M. Lohmar ◽  
Mark Busman ◽  
Daren W. Brown ◽  
Todd A. Naumann ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Sphingolipids are structural components and signaling molecules in eukaryotic membranes, and many organisms produce compounds that inhibit sphingolipid metabolism. Some of the inhibitors are structurally similar to the sphingolipid biosynthetic intermediate sphinganine and are referred to as sphinganine-analog metabolites (SAMs). The mycotoxins fumonisins, which are frequent contaminants in maize, are one family of SAMs. Due to food and feed safety concerns, fumonisin biosynthesis has been investigated extensively, including characterization of the fumonisin biosynthetic gene cluster in the agriculturally important fungi Aspergillus and Fusarium. Production of several other SAMs has also been reported in fungi, but there is almost no information on their biosynthesis. There is also little information on how widely SAM production occurs in fungi or on the extent of structural variation of fungal SAMs. Results Using fumonisin biosynthesis as a model, we predicted that SAM biosynthetic gene clusters in fungi should include a polyketide synthase (PKS), an aminotransferase and a dehydrogenase gene. Surveys of genome sequences identified five putative clusters with this three-gene combination in 92 of 186 Fusarium species examined. Collectively, the putative SAM clusters were distributed widely but discontinuously among the species. We propose that the SAM5 cluster confers production of a previously reported Fusarium SAM, 2-amino-14,16-dimethyloctadecan-3-ol (AOD), based on the occurrence of AOD production only in species with the cluster and on deletion analysis of the SAM5 cluster PKS gene. We also identified SAM clusters in 24 species of other fungal genera, and propose that one of the clusters confers production of sphingofungin, a previously reported Aspergillus SAM. Conclusion Our results provide a genomics approach to identify novel SAM biosynthetic gene clusters in fungi, which should in turn contribute to identification of novel SAMs with applications in medicine and other fields. Information about novel SAMs could also provide insights into the role of SAMs in the ecology of fungi. Such insights have potential to contribute to strategies to reduce fumonisin contamination in crops and to control crop diseases caused by SAM-producing fungi.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Tengjiao Zhu ◽  
Yingtong Chen ◽  
Shuyuan Min ◽  
Fang Li ◽  
Yun Tian

The mammalian orosomucoid-like gene family (ORMDL), containing ORMDL1, ORMDL2, and ORMDL3, is the important regulator of sphingolipid metabolism, which is relevant to cell growth, proliferation, migration, and invasion. Since the role of ORMDL1 in cancers remained unclear, the main purpose of our study was to explore the expression patterns and prognostic values of ORMDL1 in different tumors, especially in cholangiocarcinoma (CHOL), lymphoid neoplasm diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), acute myeloid leukemia (LAML), and thymoma (THYM). Bioinformatics tools including GEPIA, CCLE, LinkedOmics, cBioPortal, and TIMER databases were used. As a result, the expression levels of ORMDL1 in tumor tissues and normal tissues varied in different cancers, especially significantly upregulated in CHOL, DLBCL, LAML, and THYM. Moreover, ORMDL1 mRNA was also highly expressed in cell lines of DLBCL and LAML. Further studies showed that ORMDL1 overexpression was associated with poor prognosis in DLBCL, but not significant in CHOL, LAML, and THYM. Consistently, there were genetic alterations of ORMDL1 in DLBCL, and patients with genetic alterations indicated worse survival. Coexpressed genes and related biological events with ORMDL1 in DLBCL were found via LinkedOmics, Gene Ontology (GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis. The relationship between ORMDL1 and cancer immune cells was investigated, and ORMDL1 expression was positively correlated with infiltrating levels of B cells. In conclusion, ORMDL1 is suggested to be a tumorigenic factor and considered as the potential therapeutic target and prognostic biomarker in DLBCL.


2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 277-300

The lysosome is a single ubiquitous membrane-enclosed intracellular organelle with an acidic pH present in all eukaryotic cells, which contains large numbers of hydrolytic enzymes with their maximal enzymatic activity at a low pH (pH ≤ 5) such as proteases, nucleases, and phosphatases that are able to degrade extracellular and intracellular components. It is well known that lysosomes act as a center for degradation and recycling of large numbers of macromolecules delivered by endocytosis, phagocytosis, and autophagy. Lysosomes are recognized as key organelles for cellular clearance and are involved in many cellular processes and maintain cellular homeostasis. Recently, it has been shown that lysosome function and its related pathways are of particular importance in vascular regulation and related diseases. In this review, we highlighted studies that have improved our understanding of the connection between lysosome function and vascular physiological and pathophysiological activities in arterial smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and endothelial cells (ECs). Sphingolipids-metabolizingenzymes in lysosomes play critical roles in intracellular signaling events that influence cellular behavior and function in SMCs and ECs. The focus of this review will be to define the mechanism by which the lysosome contributes to cardiovascular regulation and diseases. It is believed that exploring the role of lysosomal function and its sphingolipid metabolism in the initiation and progression of vascular disease and regulation may provide novel insights into the understanding of vascular pathobiology and helps develop more effective therapeutic strategies for vascular diseases.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (14) ◽  
pp. 3554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doaa Samaha ◽  
Housam H. Hamdo ◽  
Max Wilde ◽  
Kevin Prause ◽  
Christoph Arenz

The understanding of the role of sphingolipid metabolism in cancer has tremendously increased in the past ten years. Many tumors are characterized by imbalances in sphingolipid metabolism. In many cases, disorders of sphingolipid metabolism are also likely to cause or at least promote cancer. In this review, sphingolipid transport proteins and the processes catalyzed by them are regarded as essential components of sphingolipid metabolism. There is much to suggest that these processes are often rate-limiting steps for metabolism of individual sphingolipid species and thus represent potential target structures for pharmaceutical anticancer research. Here, we summarize empirical and biochemical data on different proteins with key roles in sphingolipid transport and their potential role in cancer.


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