Transmembrane topology of ceramide synthase in yeast.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Kageyama-Yahara N
PROVIDER: S-EPMC1559446 | biostudies-other | 2006 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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Project description:Cell division produces two viable cells of a defined size. Thus, all cells require mechanisms to measure growth and trigger cell division when sufficient growth has occurred. Previous data suggest a model in which growth rate and cell size are mechanistically linked by ceramide-dependent signals in budding yeast. However, the conservation of mechanisms that govern growth control is poorly understood. In fission yeast, ceramide synthase is encoded by two genes, Lac1 and Lag1. Here, we characterize them by using a combination of genetics, microscopy, and lipid analysis. We showed that Lac1 and Lag1 co-immunoprecipitate and co-localize at the endoplasmic reticulum. However, each protein generates different species of ceramides and complex sphingolipids. We further discovered that Lac1, but not Lag1, is specifically required for proper control of cell growth and size in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. We propose that specific ceramide and sphingolipid species produced by Lac1 are required for normal control of cell growth and size in fission yeast.
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Project description:The bioactive sphingolipid ceramide, generated by ceramide synthase, is an adaptive stress effector induced in response to various stress stimuli such as aging. In fact, ceramide synthase (CerS) was first discovered in yeast as a longevity assurance gene (LAG1), as the reduced ceramide generation consequent to LAG1 deletion increased longevity. There are six homologues of mammalian LAG1/ceramide synthases (CerS1-6) that generate ceramides with different fatty acid chain lengths with distinct functions and hydrophobicity. Ceramide can be metabolized by sphingosine kinase 1 or 2 for the generation of pro-survival sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), which enhances immune cell egress to the blood stream, activating immune function. Ceramide is known to induce mitophagy and cell death. Here we investigated the role of this sphingolipid pathway in immune function, specifically T cell functions, via high throughput expression profiling.
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Project description:Sphingolipids exhibit extreme functional and chemical diversity that is in part determined by their hydrophobic moiety, ceramide. In mammals, the fatty acyl chain length variation of ceramides is determined by six (dihydro)ceramide synthase (CerS) isoforms. Previously, we and others showed that mutations in the major neuron-specific CerS1, which synthesizes 18-carbon fatty acyl (C18) ceramide, cause elevation of long-chain base (LCB) substrates and decrease in C18 ceramide and derivatives in the brain, leading to neurodegeneration in mice and myoclonus epilepsy with dementia in humans. Whether LCB elevation or C18 ceramide reduction leads to neurodegeneration is unclear. Here, we ectopically expressed CerS2, a nonneuronal CerS producing C22-C24 ceramides, in neurons of Cers1-deficient mice. Surprisingly, the Cers1 mutant pathology was almost completely suppressed. Because CerS2 cannot replenish C18 ceramide, the rescue is likely a result of LCB reduction. Consistent with this hypothesis, we found that only LCBs, the substrates common for all of the CerS isoforms, but not ceramides and complex sphingolipids, were restored to the wild-type levels in the Cers2-rescued Cers1 mutant mouse brains. Furthermore, LCBs induced neurite fragmentation in cultured neurons at concentrations corresponding to the elevated levels in the CerS1-deficient brain. The strong association of LCB levels with neuronal survival both in vivo and in vitro suggests high-level accumulation of LCBs is a possible underlying cause of the CerS1 deficiency-induced neuronal death.
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