title: Kinetic characterization of mammalian ceramide synthases: determination of K(m) values towards sphinganine.
abstract: Ceramide is a key metabolite in the pathway of sphingolipid biosynthesis. In mammals, ceramide is synthesized by N-acylation of a sphingoid long-chain base by a family of ceramide synthases (CerS), each of which displays a high specificity towards acyl CoAs of different chain lengths. We now optimize a previously-described assay for measuring CerS activity for use upon over-expression of mammalian CerS, and using these conditions, establish the K(m) value of each CerS towards sphinganine. Remarkably, the K(m) values towards sphinganine are all similar, ranging from 2 to 5microM, even for CerS proteins that are able to use more than one acyl CoA for ceramide synthesis (i.e. CerS4). The availability of this assay will permit further accurate characterization of the kinetic parameters of mammalian CerS proteins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Sujoy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lahiri
authors.forename: Hyunmi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mesicek
authors.forename: Zvi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fuks
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haimovitz-Friedman
authors.forename: Richard N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Kolesnick
authors.forename: Anthony H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Futerman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D019556:COS Cells; D002460:Cell Line; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D051379:Mice; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013045:Species Specificity; D013110:Sphingosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D010088:Oxidoreductases; C108138:dihydroceramide desaturase; D013110:Sphingosine; C005682:safingol