title: Introduction to Thematic Minireview Series: Novel Bioactive Sphingolipids.
abstract: Sphingosine was named by J. L. W. Thudichum for its enigmatic properties. This descriptor has applied to sphingolipids for over a century because new enigmas continue to surface. This JBC minireview series presents articles about three novel subspecies of sphingolipids, α-galactosylceramides, 4,5-dihydroceramides, and 1-deoxysphingolipids, that have important activities but, until recently, remained undetected (or at least understudied) in the shadow of very closely related compounds. They also serve as a reminder that important metabolites still lie "off the radar screen" in reports of global and comprehensive metabolomic profiling.
authors.affiliation: Schools of Biology and Chemistry & Biochemistry, and the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332; Schools of Biology and Chemistry & Biochemistry, and the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332; Schools of Biology and Chemistry & Biochemistry, and the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332. Electronic address: al.merrill@biology.gatech.edu.
authors.forename: Alfred H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Merrill
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, Rutgers Center for Lipid Research, and New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901.
authors.forename: George M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Carman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods; D013107:Sphingolipids / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D013107:Sphingolipids
keywords: apoptosis; autophagy; cancer; cell signaling; ceramide; diabetes; glycolipid; immunology; neuropathy; sphingolipid