title: Inhibition of sodium-calcium exchange by ceramide and sphingosine.
abstract: Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchange activity in Chinese hamster ovary cells expressing the bovine cardiac Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger was inhibited by the short chain ceramide analogs N-acetylsphingosine and N-hexanoylsphingosine (5-15 micrometer). The sphingolipids reduced exchange-mediated Ba(2+) influx by 50-70% and also inhibited the Ca(2+) efflux mode of exchange activity. The biologically inactive ceramide analog N-acetylsphinganine had only modest effects on exchange activity. Cells expressing the Delta(241-680) and Delta(680-685) deletion mutants of the Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger were not inhibited by ceramide; these mutants show defects in both Na(+)-dependent and Ca(2+)-dependent regulatory behavior. Another mutant, which was defective only in Na(+)-dependent regulation, was as sensitive to ceramide inhibition as the wild-type exchanger. Inhibition of exchange activity by ceramide was time-dependent and was accelerated by depletion of internal Ca(2+) stores. Sphingosine (2.5 micrometer) also inhibited the Ca(2+) influx and efflux modes of exchange activity in cells expressing the wild-type exchanger; sphingosine did not affect Ba(2+) influx in the Delta(241-680) mutant. The effects of the exogenous sphingolipids were reproduced by blocking cellular ceramide utilization pathways, suggesting that exchange activity is inhibited by increased levels of endogenous ceramide and/or sphingosine. We propose that sphingolipids impair Ca(2+)-dependent activation of the exchanger and that in cardiac myocytes, this process serves as a feedback mechanism that links exchange activity to the diastolic concentration of cytosolic Ca(2+).
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, The New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey 07103, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Condrescu
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Reeves
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D016466:CHO Cells; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D002518:Ceramides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006224:Cricetinae; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019831:Sodium-Calcium Exchanger / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D013110:Sphingosine / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D002518:Ceramides; D019831:Sodium-Calcium Exchanger; D013110:Sphingosine; D002118:Calcium