Death and taxis: what non-mammalian models tell us about sphingosine-1-phosphate.
Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a signaling molecule that regulates critical events including mammalian cell proliferation, survival, migration and cell-cell interactions. Most of these signals are triggered by engagement of sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors of the Edg family. However, accumulating evidence derived from investigation of non-mammalian models that lack Edg receptors suggests that sphingosine-1-phosphate-like molecules can act through alternative mechanisms and thereby contribute to morphogenesis, development, reproduction and survival. This review provides an overview of sphingosine-1-phosphate metabolism, the isolation of genes in this pathway employing yeast genetics, the evidence for its influence on non-mammalian development, and the pertinence of these findings to human disease.
Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, 5700 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland, CA 94609-1673, USA.
Babak
B
Oskouian
Julie D
JD
Saba
D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000502:physiology; D004023:Dictyostelium / Q000502:physiology; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008246:Lysophospholipids / Q000502:physiology*; D049349:Receptors, Lysosphingolipid / Q000502:physiology*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000502:physiology; D013110:Sphingosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000502:physiology*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000502:physiology
D008246:Lysophospholipids; D049349:Receptors, Lysosphingolipid; C060506:sphingosine 1-phosphate; D013110:Sphingosine