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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

Biological Membrane Organization and Cellular Signaling

TL;DR: How membrane structure shapes signal transduction across membranes is reviewed and how the structure, dynamics, and function of membrane-embedded and peripheral proteins can be modulated by specific membrane components and physical properties of membranes and raft domains is discussed.
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Spatial Integration in Mouse Primary Visual Cortex

TL;DR: The mouse is a promising model for circuit-level mechanisms of spatial integration, which relies on the combined activity of different types of inhibitory interneurons and can be parsimoniously explained by assuming that anesthesia affects contrast normalization.
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Stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 mediated cell apoptosis in colorectal cancer by promoting ceramide synthesis.

TL;DR: Endo-lipid messenger ceramides played a critical role in tumor fate modulated bySCD1 inhibition, indicating roles of ceramide signals in SCD1-mediated anti-tumor property.
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Immunologically augmented cancer treatment using modern radiotherapy

TL;DR: Applying the recent advances in radiation therapy in conjunction with immune therapy can be a turning point towards the long-standing aim of curing cancer.
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Obesity and Breast Cancer: Current Insights on the Role of Fatty Acids and Lipid Metabolism in Promoting Breast Cancer Growth and Progression.

TL;DR: Adipocytes, and especially hypertrophic adipocytes, can act as providers of lipids, which can be used as a source of energy for fatty acid oxidation and as building blocks for tumor cell growth.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

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Journal ArticleDOI

Targeting mitochondria for cancer therapy

TL;DR: The mitochondrial metabolism of cancer cells is deregulated owing to the use of glycolytic intermediates, which are normally destined for oxidative phosphorylation, in anabolic reactions and activation of the cell death machinery by stimulating mitochondrial membrane permeabilization could therefore be promising therapeutic approaches.
Journal ArticleDOI

Biologically active sphingolipids in cancer pathogenesis and treatment.

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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