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Journal ArticleDOI

Ceramide-orchestrated signalling in cancer cells

Samy A.F. Morad, +1 more
- 01 Jan 2013 - 
- Vol. 13, Iss: 1, pp 51-65
TLDR
This Review focuses on ceramide signalling and the targeting of specific metabolic junctures to amplify the tumour suppressive activities of ceramide.
Abstract
One crucial barrier to progress in the treatment of cancer has been the inability to control the balance between cell proliferation and apoptosis: enter ceramide. Discoveries over the past 15 years have elevated this sphingolipid to the lofty position of a regulator of cell fate. Ceramide, it turns out, is a powerful tumour suppressor, potentiating signalling events that drive apoptosis, autophagic responses and cell cycle arrest. However, defects in ceramide generation and metabolism in cancer cells contribute to tumour cell survival and resistance to chemotherapy. This Review focuses on ceramide signalling and the targeting of specific metabolic junctures to amplify the tumour suppressive activities of ceramide. The potential of ceramide-based therapeutics in the treatment of cancer is also discussed.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI

Elevated plasma ceramide levels in post-menopausal women: a cross-sectional study.

TL;DR: The results suggest that aging is associated with an increase in circulating ceramide levels, which in post-menopausal women is at least partially associated with lower estradiol levels.
Journal ArticleDOI

Ceramide synthases CerS4 and CerS5 are upregulated by 17β-estradiol and GPER1 via AP-1 in human breast cancer cells.

TL;DR: It is shown, that cell proliferation induced by estradiol could be blocked by co-treatment with Fumonisin B1, indicating that upregulation of CerS in breast cancer cells by estrogen is important for cell proliferation and possibly tumor development.
Journal ArticleDOI

Mechanistic interplay between ceramide and insulin resistance

TL;DR: An extended model of C16:0 ceramide production through both the de novo synthesis and the salvage pathways is presented, suggesting the pivotal role of ceramide synthase, serine palmitoyltransferase and dihydroceramide desaturase in influencing insulin resistance versus its regulation.
Journal ArticleDOI

A search for ceramide binding proteins using bifunctional lipid analogs yields CERT-related protein StarD7.

TL;DR: The suitability of pacCer as a tool to hunt for ceramide binding proteins is demonstrated and the data point is pointed at StarD7 as a candidate effector protein by which ceramides may exert part of their mitochondria-mediated cytotoxic effects.
Journal ArticleDOI

Human Visual Cortex Responses to Rapid Cone and Melanopsin-Directed Flicker.

TL;DR: It is found that melanopsin signals do not produce a measurable response in visual cortex at temporal frequencies between 0.5 and 64 Hz at daytime light levels, and that cortical responses to cone signals vary systematically across visual areas.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

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Journal ArticleDOI

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Journal ArticleDOI

Targeting mitochondria for cancer therapy

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Journal ArticleDOI

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TL;DR: This work has shown that ceramide — a central molecule in sphingolipid metabolism — in effect functions as a tumour-suppressor lipid, inducing antiproliferative and apoptotic responses in various cancer cells, and that S1P induces responses that, on aggregate, render S 1P a tumours-promoting lipid.
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