We recently raised an IgM class of monoclonal antibody (Ab) for ceramide (NHCER-2), and examined its specificity and sensitivity. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and thin-layer chromatography (TLC) showed that NHCER-2 recognized ceramides but not other sphingolipids such as sphingosine, sphinganine, sphingomyelin, sphingosine-1-phosphate, ceramide-1-phosphate, glucosylceramide and cerebroside. In addition, N-hexanoyl, N-octanoyl ...

Whilst the role of ceramide, a second messenger of the sphingolipid family, in the initiation of receptor-mediated apoptosis is controversial, a growing body of evidence is emerging for a role of ceramide in the amplification of apoptosis via mitochondrial perturbations that culminate in the activation of execution caspases. Treatment of ...

Ceramide is implicated in the regulation of various signaling pathways leading to proliferation, differentiation or apoptotic cell death, but there have been few investigations about the effects of ceramide on the cell growth and the melanogenesis of melanocytes. In the present study, we investigated the effects of cell-permeable ceramide on ...

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is composed of positional and stereoisomers of octadecadienoate (18:2); it is found in foods derived from ruminants (beef and lamb as well as dairy products from these sources). When a mixture of isomers is fed to experimental animals, chemically induced tumorigenesis of mammary, skin and colon ...

Sphingolipids have been implicated in apoptosis after various stress inducers. To assess the involvement of the de novo sphingolipid pathway in apoptosis, photodynamic therapy (PDT) with the photosensitizer Pc 4 was used as a novel stress inducer. Here we provide biochemical and genetic evidence of the role of the de ...

PURPOSE: To clarify the molecular mechanisms leading to radiation-induced apoptosis or resistance, the kinetics (1-48 h) and sequence of events triggered in response to 10 Gy irradiation were investigated in three cell lines displaying a gradient of sensitivity to 7-rays. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ceramide levels were measured by high performance ...

Gangliosides of macrophages have immunoregulatory and structural attributes, distinct from neural gangliosides. We previously produced a monoclonal antibody to human macrophage gangliosides (HMG; mAb25F4), which inhibited macrophage migration and recognized a surface-accessible epitope. We investigated expanded immunoregulatory properties and molecular domains for antibody recognition. mAb25F4 directly induced human macrophage production ...

Standard Ginkgo biloba leaf extract (EGb 761) has been known to have neuroprotective effects ranging from molecular and cellular, to animal and human studies, however, the cellular and molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Using PC 12 cells, a well-established model for studying neuroprotection, we have determined the mechanism of action of ...

The bioactive sphingolipid metabolite sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), formed by activation of sphingosine kinase in response to diverse stimuli, is an important lipid mediator that has novel dual actions - both inside and outside of cells. S1P is the ligand for a family of five G protein-coupled receptors. Activation of these GPCRs ...

The study of sphingolipids has undergone a renaissance over the past decade due to the realization that these lipids are involved in a variety a biological processes, such as differentiation, apoptosis, cell growth, and cell migration. In the nervous system, sphingolipids, particularly gangliosides, have attracted particular attention as they occur ...

Cannabinoids recently have been shown to control the cell survival/death decision. Thus, cannabinoids induce growth arrest or apoptosis in a number of transformed neural and non-neural cells in culture. In addition, cannabinoid administration induces regression of malignant gliomas in rodents by a mechanism that may involve sustained ceramide generation and ...

One of the earliest changes observed in retinal microvessels in diabetic retinopathy is the selective loss of intramural pericytes. We tested the hypothesis that AGE might be involved in the disappearance of retinal pericytes by apoptosis and further investigated the signaling pathway leading to cell death. Chronic exposure of pericytes ...

Tomato plants overexpressing the disease resistance gene Pto (35S::Pto) exhibit spontaneous cell death, accumulation of salicylic acid (SA), elevated expression of pathogenesis-related genes, and enhanced resistance to a broad range of pathogens. Because salicylate plays an important role in the cell death and defense activation in many lesion mimic mutants, ...

The intracellular pathways leading to mitochondrial activation and subsequent cell death in the ceramide-mediated stress response have been intensively studied in recent years. Experimental evidence has been provided that ceramide-induced apoptosis is inhibited by overexpression of antiapoptotic proteins of the Bcl-2 family. However, the direct effect of proapoptotic gene products, ...

Ceramide has been suggested as an important mediator of apoptosis. In HT-29 colorectal cancer cells increased ceramide levels, induced by exogenous N-acetylsphingosine (NAS, also known as C2-ceramide) or by 1-phenyl-2-(decanoylamino)-3-morpholino-1-propanol (PDMP), inhibited the transport and processing of cathepsin D (CD), a lysosomal protease implicated in apoptosis of tumour cells. C2-dihydroceramide ...

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) and some other structurally related lysophospholipids are active growth factors and stimuli for diverse cellular functions. LPA and S1P promote early T cell migration to tissue sites of immune responses and regulate T cell proliferation and secretion of numerous cytokines. Edg-4 (LPA2) LPA receptors, ...

Ceramide is a key mediator of apoptosis, yet its role in Fas-mediated apoptosis is controversial. Some reports have indicated that ceramide is either a primary signaling molecule in Fas-induced cell death, or that it functions upstream of Fas by increasing FasL expression. Other studies have suggested that ceramide is not ...

Ceramide is a sphingolipid that has been implicated both in apoptosis and protection from cell death. We show that in both rat cerebellar granule cells and cortical neuronal cultures application of C(2)-ceramide causes cell death in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Similar effects were observed with the exogenous application of ...

Complex dietary sphingolipids such as sphingomyelin and glycosphingolipids have been reported to inhibit development of colon cancer. This protective role may be the result of turnover to bioactive metabolites including sphingoid bases (sphingosine and sphinganine) and ceramide, which inhibit proliferation and stimulate apoptosis. The purpose of the present study was ...

In an effort to better understand the phenomenon of lipotoxicity in human beta-cells, we evaluated the effects of 48-h preculture with 1.0 or 2.0 mmol/l free fatty acid (FFA) (2:1 oleate to palmitate) on the function and survival of isolated human islets and investigated some of the possible mechanisms. Compared ...

Secretory phospholipase A(2) (sPLA(2)) plays important roles in cellular signaling and various biological events. In this study, we examined the biological effects and the potential signaling mechanism of purified sPLA(2) in MV1Lu cells. Three types of snake venom sPLA(2) were purified and their enzymatic activities were characterized by using various ...

We examined the biological effects of the ceramide analogues (1S,2R)-2-N-myristoylamino-1-phenyl-1-propanol (D-e-MAPP) and (1R,2R)-2-N-myristoylamino-1-(4-nitrophenyl)-1,3-propandiol (D-NMAPPD) on human HaCaT keratinocytes and human melanoma cells. We could demonstrate that D-e-MAPP and D-NMAPPD are able to suppress acid ceramidase activity. The elevation of the endogenous level of ceramide is followed by induction of apoptosis ...

BACKGROUND: Proliferation of mesangial cells (MCs) is the initial step in glomerulonephritis, and platelet-derived mediators have been shown to play a significant role in this proliferation. Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), one of the sphingolipids, is abundantly stored in platelets and is released upon stimulation. We examined the effects of S1P and ...

Round embryonic mesenchymal cells have the potential to differentiate into smooth muscle (SM) cells upon spreading/elongation (Yang, Y., K.C. Palmer, N. Relan, C. Diglio, and L. Schuger. 1998. Development. 125:2621-2629; Yang, Y., N.K. Relan, D.A. Przywara, and L. Schuger. 1999. Development. 126:3027-3033; Yang, Y., S. Beqaj, P. Kemp, I. Ariel, ...

PURPOSE: In this study, the expression and regulation of the L-cystine transporter, system x(-)(c), at the inner blood-retinal barrier (inner BRB) was investigated using a conditionally immortalized rat retinal capillary endothelial cell line (TR-iBRB2) as an in vitro model. METHODS: For the uptake study, TR-iBRB2 cells were cultured at 33C ...

Vesnarinone is an effective inotropic agent for treating congestive heart failure, but its clinical usage is restricted because of the severe side effect of agranulocytosis. In myeloid HL-60 cells, vesnarinone increased the intracellular content of a proapoptotic lipid mediator, ceramide, in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Vesnarinone-induced apoptosis was significantly ...

The Rho subfamily of small GTP-binding proteins mediates many fundamental cellular functions. The commonly studied members (Rho, Rac, and CDC42) regulate actin reorganization, affecting diverse cellular responses, including adhesion, cytokinesis, and motility. Another major function of the Rho GTPases is their role in regulating transcriptional factors and nuclear signaling. RhoH ...

BACKGROUND: In inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), cytokine levels (such as interleukin-1 (IL-1)) are elevated. We have shown previously that IL-1 activates phospholipid signaling pathways in intestinal epithelial cells (EEC), leading to increased ceramide levels. AIM: To determine whether ceramide induces apoptosis in IEC. METHODS: Apoptosis was evaluated by annexin-V binding ...

Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) is the rate-limiting enzyme in the biosynthesis of polyamines, a family of cationic compounds required for optimal cell proliferation and differentiation. Within mammalian melanocytes, the expression of genes regulating cell growth and/or differentiation can be controlled by alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alphaMSH) and other melanogenesis modulating agents. In the ...

Annexin II heterotetramer (AIIt) is a Ca(2+)- and phospholipid-binding protein that consists of two copies of a p36 and p11 subunit. AIIt regulates the production and autoproteolysis of plasmin at the cell surface. In addition to its role as a key cellular protease, plasmin also plays a role in angiogenesis ...

Ceramide has been proposed as a second messenger for stress-induced apoptosis. By characterization of murine melanoma cells and their E1A transfectants, we found several lines of evidences against the role of ceramide as a second messenger for ultraviolet (UV)-induced apoptosis. First, although E1A transfected melanoma cells were more sensitive to ...

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases catalyze the first step of protein synthesis. It was shown recently that human tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase (TyrRS) can be split into two fragments having distinct cytokine activities, thereby linking protein synthesis to cytokine signaling pathways. Tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase (TrpRS) is a close homologue of TyrRS. A natural fragment, herein designated ...

[Formulae and special characters can only be approximated here. Please see the pdf version of the abstract for an accurate reproduction.] Apoptosis is a morphologically distinct form of cell death that is involved in the regulation of normal and aberrant cell systems. The complexities of the apoptotic cell death pathway ...

The toxicity of the chemical warfare blistering agent sulfur mustard (2,2'-dichlorodiethyl sulfide; SM) has been investigated for nearly a century; however, the toxicological mechanisms of SM remain obscure and no antidote exists. The similarity of dermal-epidermal separation caused by SM exposure, proteolysis, and certain bullous diseases has fostered the hypothesis ...

Cardiovascular disease is still the leading cause of death in Western countries. Epidemiological studies have shown that hypercholesterolemia is a major risk factor for coronary artery disease. Clinical trials of lipid lowering therapy with 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG Co-A) reductase inhibitor have been shown to decrease coronary events and mortality. ...

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) induce apoptosis in gastrointestinal cancer cell lines. Similar actions on normal gastric epithelial cells could contribute to NSAID gastropathy. The present work therefore compared the actions of diclofenac, ibuprofen, indomethacin, and the cyclo-oxygenase-2 selective inhibitor, NS-398, on a primary culture of guinea-pig gastric mucous epithelial cells. ...

CD95 and ceramide are known to be involved in the apoptotic mechanism. The triggering of CD95 induces a cascade of metabolic events that progressively and dramatically modifies the cell shape by intense membrane blebbing, leading to apoptotic bodies production. Although the CD95 pathway has been abundantly described in normal thyrocytes, ...

Mitochondrial role in ceramide-induced apoptosis pathway remains unclear. Direct effects of ceramide on mitochondria (cytochrome c release, respiratory chain inhibition, oxygen radicals production...) have been reported [1, 2] and we previously showed that addition of ceramide to intact cells or isolated mitochondria triggers mitochondrial swelling which appeared to be insensitive ...

SHP-1 protein tyrosine phosphatase is a critical regulator of signaling in hematopoietic cells as illustrated by the lethal hematopoietic disorders in SHP-1-deficient mice. We and others have shown in previous studies that SHP-1 regulates membrane receptor signaling: it binds via its N-terminal region SH2 domains to tyrosine phosphorylated membrane receptors ...

Sphingolipids and their metabolites, ceramide, sphingosine and sphingosine-1-phosphate, are involved in a variety of cellular processes including differentiation, cellular senescence, apoptosis and proliferation. Ceramide is the main second messenger, and is produced by sphingomyelinase-induced hydrolysis of sphingomyelin and by de novo synthesis. Many stimuli, e. g. growth factors, cytokines, G ...

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are mediators of lung injury, and glutathione (GSH) is the major nonprotein antioxidant that protects the cell from oxidative stress. We have recently shown that H(2)O(2) induces ceramide-mediated apoptosis in human lung epithelial cells. We hypothesized that ROS-mediated depletion of GSH plays a regulatory role in ...

The tumour suppressor gene p53 and the intracellular signalling molecule ceramide have both been shown to play crucial roles in the induction of apoptosis by ionising radiation. In this study we examined whether p53 and ceramide are involved in independent signal pathways, inducing different types of apoptosis. TK6 (p53wt/wt) and ...

The sphingolipid ceramide is an important second messenger assumed to be involved in fundamental processes, including proliferation, differentiation and growth arrest, as well as the induction of apoptosis. Ceramide is generated in a ubiquitous and evolutionarily conserved signaling pathway called the sphingomyelin pathway, through the action of distinct isoforms of ...

The phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase pathway is an important regulator of cell survival. In human alveolar macrophages, we found that LPS activates PI 3-kinase and its downstream effector, Akt. LPS exposure of alveolar macrophages also results in the generation of ceramide. Because ceramide exposure induces apoptosis in other cell types and ...

Ceramide and sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) are important dietary lipids involved in cell growth, differentiation, apoptosis and cell survival. Treatment of C3H10T1/2 murine fibroblast cells (10T1/2) with ceramide did not induce apoptosis, a commonly observed effect of ceramide treatment. To determine whether the metabolism of ceramide played a role in this resistance ...

Owing to its ability to induce growth arrest and differentiation of keratinocytes, 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and its analogs are useful for the treatment of hyperproliferative skin diseases, such as psoriasis vulgaris. It has been implicated that the 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-induced differentiation of keratinocytes is mediated, at least in part, by the formation ...

The activation of sphingomyelinases leading to the generation of ceramide has been implicated in various apoptotic pathways. However, the role of ceramide as an essential death mediator remains highly controversial. In the present study, we investigated the functional relevance of ceramide in a genetic model by using primary cells from ...

We reviewed a recent advance in the studies of the molecular mechanisms for 'ultraviolet responses', paying special attention to two transcription factors, nuclear factor kappa B and p53, and to a balance noted between an anti-apoptotic phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt pathway and its inhibitory ceramide-caveolin-1 pathway. These studies were mostly carried out ...

Lipid analysis of gestational day E14.5 mouse brain revealed elevation of ceramide to a tissue concentration that induced apoptosis when added to the medium of neuroprogenitor cells grown in cell culture. Elevation of ceramide was coincident with the first appearance of b-series complex gangliosides (BCGs). Expression of BCGs by stable ...

DT(388)-GM-CSF, a targeted fusion toxin constructed by conjugation of human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) with the catalytic and translocation domains of diphtheria toxin, is presently in phase I trials for patients with resistant acute myeloid leukemia. HL-60/VCR, a multidrug-resistant human myeloid leukemia cell line, and wild-type HL-60 cells were used ...