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Full-Text Articles in Physiology
Increased Liver Tumor Formation In Neutral Sphingomyelinase-2-Deficient Mice, Liansheng Zhong, Ji Na Kong, Michael B. Dinkins, Silvia Leanhart, Zhihui Zhu, Stefka D. Spassieva, Haiyan Qin, Hsuan-Pei Lin, Ahmed Elsherbini, Rebecca Wang, Xue Jiang, Mariana N. Nikolova‑Karakashian, Guanghu Wang, Erhard Bieberich
Increased Liver Tumor Formation In Neutral Sphingomyelinase-2-Deficient Mice, Liansheng Zhong, Ji Na Kong, Michael B. Dinkins, Silvia Leanhart, Zhihui Zhu, Stefka D. Spassieva, Haiyan Qin, Hsuan-Pei Lin, Ahmed Elsherbini, Rebecca Wang, Xue Jiang, Mariana N. Nikolova‑Karakashian, Guanghu Wang, Erhard Bieberich
Physiology Faculty Publications
Sphingolipids are key signaling lipids in cancer. Genome-wide studies have identified neutral SMase-2 (nSMase2), an enzyme generating ceramide from SM, as a potential repressor for hepatocellular carcinoma. However, little is known about the sphingolipids regulated by nSMase2 and their roles in liver tumor development. We discovered growth of spontaneous liver tumors in 27.3% (9 of 33) of aged male nSMase2-deficient (fro/fro) mice. Lipidomics analysis showed a marked increase of SM in the tumor. Unexpectedly, tumor tissues presented with more than a 7-fold increase of C16-ceramide, concurrent with upregulation of ceramide synthase 5. The fro/fro liver tumor, …
Novel Function Of Ceramide For Regulation Of Mitochondrial Atp Release In Astrocytes, Ji-Na Kong, Zhihui Zhu, Yutaka Itokazu, Guanghu Wang, Michael B. Dinkins, Liansheng Zhong, Hsuan-Pei Lin, Ahmed Elsherbini, Silvia Leanhart, Xue Jiang, Haiyan Qin, Wenbo Zhi, Stefka D. Spassieva, Erhard Bieberich
Novel Function Of Ceramide For Regulation Of Mitochondrial Atp Release In Astrocytes, Ji-Na Kong, Zhihui Zhu, Yutaka Itokazu, Guanghu Wang, Michael B. Dinkins, Liansheng Zhong, Hsuan-Pei Lin, Ahmed Elsherbini, Silvia Leanhart, Xue Jiang, Haiyan Qin, Wenbo Zhi, Stefka D. Spassieva, Erhard Bieberich
Physiology Faculty Publications
We reported that amyloid β peptide (Aβ42) activated neutral SMase 2 (nSMase2), thereby increasing the concentration of the sphingolipid ceramide in astrocytes. Here, we show that Aβ42 induced mitochondrial fragmentation in wild-type astrocytes, but not in nSMase2-deficient cells or astrocytes treated with fumonisin B1 (FB1), an inhibitor of ceramide synthases. Unexpectedly, ceramide depletion was concurrent with rapid movements of mitochondria, indicating an unknown function of ceramide for mitochondria. Using immunocytochemistry and super-resolution microscopy, we detected ceramide-enriched and mitochondria-associated membranes (CEMAMs) that were codistributed with microtubules. Interaction of ceramide with tubulin was confirmed by cross-linking to N-[9-(3-pent-4-ynyl-3-H-diazirine-3-yl)-nonanoyl]-D-erythro-sphingosine …