title: Ceramide synthases as potential targets for therapeutic intervention in human diseases.
abstract: Ceramide is located at a key hub in the sphingolipid metabolic pathway and also acts as an important cellular signaling molecule. Ceramide contains one acyl chain which is attached to a sphingoid long chain base via an amide bond, with the acyl chain varying in length and degree of saturation. The identification of a family of six mammalian ceramide synthases (CerS) that synthesize ceramide with distinct acyl chains, has led to significant advances in our understanding of ceramide biology, including further delineation of the role of ceramide in various pathophysiologies in both mice and humans. Since ceramides, and the complex sphingolipids generated from ceramide, are implicated in disease, the CerS might potentially be novel targets for therapeutic intervention in the diseases in which the ceramide acyl chain length is altered. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled New Frontiers in Sphingolipid Biology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 158-710, South Korea.
authors.forename: Joo-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel; Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Gachon University, Incheon 406-799, South Korea.
authors.forename: Woo-Jae
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. Electronic address: tony.futerman@weizmann.ac.il.
authors.forename: Anthony H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Futerman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002518:Ceramides / Q000378:metabolism*; D004194:Disease; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism; D013107:Sphingolipids / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002518:Ceramides; D013107:Sphingolipids; D010088:Oxidoreductases; C108138:dihydroceramide desaturase
keywords: Acyl chain length; Ceramide synthase; Disease; Specificity; Sphingolipid; Therapeutic target