title: Sphingolipids and cell death.
abstract: Sphingolipids (SLs) have been considered for many years as predominant building blocks of biological membranes with key structural functions and little relevance in cellular signaling. However, this view has changed dramatically in recent years with the recognition that certain SLs such as ceramide, sphingosine 1-phosphate and gangliosides, participate actively in signal transduction pathways, regulating many different cell functions such as proliferation, differentiation, adhesion and cell death. In particular, ceramide has attracted considerable attention in cell biology and biophysics due to its key role in the modulation of membrane physical properties, signaling and cell death regulation. This latter function is largely exerted by the ability of ceramide to activate the major pathways governing cell death such as the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. Overall, the evidence so far indicates a key function of SLs in disease pathogenesis and hence their regulation may be of potential therapeutic relevance in different pathologies including liver diseases, neurodegeneration and cancer biology and therapy.
authors.affiliation: Liver Unit and Centro de Investigaciones Biomédicas Esther Koplowitz, IMDiM, Hospital, Clínic i Provincial, Instituto Investigaciones Biomédicas August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), 08036 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.forename: Hyunmi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Felix M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Goñi
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kolesnick
authors.forename: José C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Checa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D015290:Second Messenger Systems / Q000502:physiology; D013107:Sphingolipids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D013107:Sphingolipids