The role of ceramide in regulating endoplasmic reticulum function |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel;2. iMed.UL, Research Institute for Medicines and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal;3. Centro de Química-Física Molecular and IN-Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal |
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Abstract: | Sphingolipids (SLs) are an important class of membrane lipids containing a long chain sphingoid base backbone. SL synthesis is compartmentalized between two major cell organelles, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the Golgi apparatus. The initial steps of sphingolipid synthesis take place in the ER, where the simplest SL, ceramide, is synthesized. Although ceramide is a critical membrane component, an imbalance of ceramide levels can have significant deleterious effects on cell properties leading to events such as apoptosis. For this reason and others, ER ceramide levels must be tightly regulated. Here, we describe the biological and biophysical properties of ceramide and discuss how this might impact the ER membrane. This article is part of a special issue entitled: ER Platforms for Membrane Lipid Dynamics. |
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