title: Inhibition of Akt kinase by cell-permeable ceramide and its implications for ceramide-induced apoptosis.
abstract: Ceramide is an important lipid messenger involved in mediating a variety of cell functions including apoptosis. However, mechanisms responsible for ceramide-induced apoptosis remain unclear. We investigated the possibility that ceramide may decrease antiapoptotic signaling in cells by inhibiting Akt kinase activity. Our data show that C2-ceramide induces apoptosis in HMN1 motor neuron cells and decreases both basal and insulin- or serum-stimulated Akt kinase activity 65-70%. These results are consistent with decreased Akt kinase activity being involved in the apoptotic effects of ceramide. This possibility is further supported by studies showing that constitutively active Akt kinase decreases C2-ceramide-induced death of HMN1 cells as well as COS-7 cells. Decreased Akt activity is not due to ceramide activating the ceramide-activated protein phosphatase or to a direct inhibition of Akt kinase by ceramide, suggesting that ceramide acts upstream of Akt kinase to decrease its activity. Treating cells with C2-ceramide does not affect phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1, interactions between insulin receptor substrate-1 and p85, or insulin-stimulated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity, suggesting that the effects of C2-ceramide on Akt kinase are not mediated through modulating phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. In sum, our results suggest that inhibition of the key antiapoptotic kinase, Akt, may play an important role in ceramide-induced apoptosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, and Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Summers
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Birnbaum
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Pittman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D019556:COS Cells; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D019319:Okadaic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D013110:Sphingosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D019319:Okadaic Acid; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D013110:Sphingosine; C064769:N-acetylsphingosine