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Metabolism and Roles of Sphingolipids in Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

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Biogenesis of Fatty Acids, Lipids and Membranes

Part of the book series: Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology ((HHLM))

Abstract

Sphingolipids are major membrane components of all eukaryotic cells. They are also important bioactive molecules involved in a plethora of essential cellular processes that are implicated in various human diseases. Most bioactive sphingolipids also serve as intermediate products of the sphingolipid metabolic network. It is thus critical to understand sphingolipid metabolic pathways in order to dissect sphingolipid function at single-species level. Here, we review in detail the biosynthetic and degradation pathways of sphingolipids in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a model organism whose sphingolipid composition is rather simple but with conserved metabolic pathways and regulation mechanisms as higher eukaryotes. The functions of yeast sphingoid bases, ceramides, and complex sphingolipids are also discussed. Together, this knowledge provides a foundation to understand sphingolipid metabolism , their physiological roles, their potential as therapeutic targets for human diseases, and the major challenges the field is facing.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Drs. Cungui Mao, Christopher Clarke, and Cosima Rhein for their critical discussions and valuable comments. Work related to this review in Dr. Hannun’s laboratory was supported by grant R35 GM118128.

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  1. Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook University, Health Science Center, Stony Brook, NY, USA

    Jihui Ren & Yusuf A. Hannun

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  1. Jihui Ren
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  2. Yusuf A. Hannun
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Correspondence to Yusuf A. Hannun .

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  1. Centro de Ciencias Genomicas, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico Centro de Ciencias Genomicas, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico

    Otto Geiger

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Ren, J., Hannun, Y.A. (2016). Metabolism and Roles of Sphingolipids in Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae . In: Geiger, O. (eds) Biogenesis of Fatty Acids, Lipids and Membranes. Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43676-0_21-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43676-0_21-1

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