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Basics of Sphingolipid Metabolism and Signalling

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Book cover Bioactive Sphingolipids in Cancer Biology and Therapy

Abstract

The term sphingolipid was coined by J.L.W. Thudichum before the turn of the nineteenth century, referring to the enigmatic (related to the Sphinx myth) nature of this class of molecules. One hundred thirty years later, the enigma is not yet completely solved. Nevertheless, much progress has been made, shedding light on the numerous roles these lipids play in eukaryotes. How sphingolipids are synthesized, transformed and degraded in mammalian cells, and how some of them transduce signals and regulate biological functions is reviewed in this chapter. Special attention is given to those sphingolipid species which regulate key aspects of the development of malignancies in humans, and therefore represent potential targets for therapy.

An erratum to this chapter can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20750-6_21

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Abbreviations

Cer:

Ceramide

Cer1P:

Ceramide 1-phosphate

DAG:

Diacylglycerol

ER:

Endoplasmic reticulum

GalCer:

Galactosylceramide

GlcCer:

Glucosylceramide

GSL:

Glycosphingolipid

S1P:

Sphingosine 1-phosphate

SL:

Sphingolipid

SM:

Sphingomyelin

SPC:

Sphingosylphosphocholine

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Acknowledgement

Support to TL’s team by INSERM, Université Paul Sabatier, ANR (SphingoDR program), RITC, Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer (Equipe Labellisée 2013), and VML is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) UMR1037, Centre de Recherches en Cancérologie de Toulouse (CRCT), Oncopole de Toulouse, 2 Avenue Hubert Curien, CS 53717, 31037, Toulouse, Cedex 1, France

    Céline Colacios, Frédérique Sabourdy, Nathalie Andrieu-Abadie, Bruno Ségui & Thierry Levade M.D., Ph.D.

  2. Equipe Labellisée Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer 2013, Centre de Recherches en Cancérologie de Toulouse (CRCT), Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, Toulouse, France

    Céline Colacios, Frédérique Sabourdy, Nathalie Andrieu-Abadie, Bruno Ségui & Thierry Levade M.D., Ph.D.

  3. Laboratoire de Biochimie Métabolique, Institut Fédératif de Biologie, CHU Purpan, Toulouse, France

    Frédérique Sabourdy & Thierry Levade M.D., Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Céline Colacios
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  2. Frédérique Sabourdy
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  3. Nathalie Andrieu-Abadie
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  4. Bruno Ségui
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  5. Thierry Levade M.D., Ph.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thierry Levade M.D., Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Stony Brook University, Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook, New York, USA

    Yusuf A. Hannun

  2. Dept. of Physiology & Biophysics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA

    Chiara Luberto

  3. Dept. of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA

    Cungui Mao

  4. Dept. of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA

    Lina Marie Obeid

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Colacios, C., Sabourdy, F., Andrieu-Abadie, N., Ségui, B., Levade, T. (2015). Basics of Sphingolipid Metabolism and Signalling. In: Hannun, Y., Luberto, C., Mao, C., Obeid, L. (eds) Bioactive Sphingolipids in Cancer Biology and Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20750-6_1

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