Acid Ceramidase Deficiency in Mice Results in a Broad Range of Central Nervous System Abnormalities.

Farber disease is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by acid ceramidase deficiency that usually presents as early-onset progressive visceral and neurologic disease. To understand the neurologic abnormality, we investigated behavioral, biochemical, and cellular abnormalities in the central nervous system of Asah1P361R/P361R mice, which serve as a model of Farber disease. Behaviorally, the mutant mice had reduced voluntary locomotion and exploration, increased thigmotaxis, abnormal spectra of basic behavioral activities, impaired muscle grip strength, and defects in motor coordination. A few mutant mice developed hydrocephalus. Mass spectrometry revealed elevations of ceramides, hydroxy-ceramides, dihydroceramides, sphingosine, dihexosylceramides, and monosialodihexosylganglioside in the brain. The highest accumulation was in hydroxy-ceramides. Storage compound distribution was analyzed by mass spectrometry imaging and morphologic analyses and revealed involvement of a wide range of central nervous system cell types (eg, neurons, endothelial cells, and choroid plexus cells), most notably microglia and/or macrophages. Coalescing and mostly perivascular granuloma-like accumulations of storage-laden CD68+ microglia and/or macrophages were seen as early as 3 weeks of age and located preferentially in white matter, periventricular zones, and meninges. Neurodegeneration was also evident in specific cerebral areas in late disease. Overall, our central nervous system studies in Asah1P361R/P361R mice substantially extend the understanding of human Farber disease and suggest that this model can be used to advance therapeutic approaches for this currently untreatable disorder.

Liquid Chromatography-High Resolution Mass Spectrometry Method to Study Sphingolipid Metabolism Changes in Response to CD95L.

Sphingolipids are sphingoid base-containing lipids, among which some metabolites behave as bioactive molecules in various biological processes, including cell death. Whereas ceramide is now viewed as an anti-oncometabolite, leading to cancer cell death, CD95L-induced apoptosis is associated with sphingolipid changes, which likely contribute to caspase-dependent signaling pathway activation. Here, we describe Liquid Chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry method (LC-HRMS) to analyze sphingolipid metabolism changes triggered by CD95L.

A novel jaspine B-ceramide hybrid modulates sphingolipid metabolism.

A new sphingolipid hybrid molecule was designed to assemble, within a tail-to-tail double-chain structure, the ceramide hydrophilic moiety and the tetrahydrofuran pharmacophore of jaspine B, a natural product known to interfere with sphingolipid metabolism. This compound was prepared through acylation of sphingosine with a jaspine B derivative bearing a COOH group in the terminal position of the aliphatic backbone. This new hybrid molecule was evaluated for its capacities to affect melanoma cell viability and sphingolipid metabolism. While retaining the cytotoxicity of ceramide itself, this compound was shown to lower the sphingomyelin cellular levels and significantly enhance the production of sphingosine-1-phosphate, thus representing a novel sphingolipid metabolism modulator.

New insights into the organ-specific adverse effects of fumonisin B1: comparison between lung and liver.

Fumonisin B1 (FB1) is a well-known inhibitor of de novo sphingolipid biosynthesis, due to its ability to inhibit ceramide synthases (CerS) activity. In mammals, this toxin triggers broad clinical symptoms with multi-organ dysfunction such as hepatotoxicity or pulmonary edema. The molecular mechanism of CerS inhibition by FB1 remains unknown. Due to the existence of six mammalian CerS isoforms with a tissue-specific expression pattern, we postulated that the organ-specific adverse effects of FB1 might be due to different CerS isoforms. The sphingolipid contents of lung and liver were compared in normal and FB1-exposed piglets (gavage with 1.5 mg FB1/kg body weight daily for 9 days). The effect of the toxin on each CerS was deduced from the analysis of its effects on individual ceramide (Cer) and sphingomyelin (SM) species. As expected, the total Cer content decreased by half in the lungs of FB1-exposed piglets, while in contrast, total Cer increased 3.5-fold in the livers of FB1-exposed animals. Our data also indicated that FB1 is more prone to bind to CerS4 and CerS2 to deplete lung and to enrich liver in d18:1/C20:0 and d18:1/C22:0 ceramides. It also interact with CerS1 to enrich liver in d18:1/C18:0 ceramides. Cer levels were counterbalanced by those of SM. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that the specificity of the effects of FB1 on tissues and organs is due to the effects of the toxin on CerS4, CerS2, and CerS1.

Enhanced skeletal muscle lipid oxidative efficiency in insulin-resistant vs insulin-sensitive nondiabetic, nonobese humans.

CONTEXT: Skeletal muscle insulin resistance is proposed to result from impaired skeletal muscle lipid oxidative capacity. However, there is no evidence indicating that muscle lipid oxidative capacity is impaired in healthy otherwise insulin-resistant individuals. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to assess muscle lipid oxidative capacity in young, nonobese, glucose-tolerant, insulin-resistant vs insulin-sensitive individuals. DESIGN AND VOLUNTEERS: In 13 insulin-sensitive [by Matsuda index (MI) (22.6 ± 0.6 [SE] kg/m(2)); 23 ± 1 years; MI 5.9 ± 0.1] and 13 insulin-resistant (23.2 ± 0.6 kg/m(2); 23 ± 3 years; MI 2.2 ± 0.1) volunteers, skeletal muscle biopsy, blood extraction before and after an oral glucose load, and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry were performed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Skeletal muscle mitochondrial to nuclear DNA ratio, oxidative phosphorylation protein content, and citrate synthase and ß-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase activities were assessed. Muscle lipids and palmitate oxidation ((14)CO2 and (14)C-acid soluble metabolites production) at 4 [1-(14)C]palmitate concentrations (45-520 µM) were also measured. RESULTS: None of the muscle mitochondrial measures showed differences between groups, except for a higher complex V protein content in insulin-resistant vs insulin-sensitive volunteers (3.5 ± 0.4 vs 2.2 ± 0.4; P = .05). Muscle ceramide content was significantly increased in insulin-resistant vs insulin-sensitive individuals (P = .04). Total palmitate oxidation showed a similar concentration-dependent response in both groups (P = .69). However, lipid oxidative efficiency (CO2 to (14)C-acid soluble metabolites ratio) was enhanced in insulin-resistant vs insulin-sensitive individuals, particularly at the highest palmitate concentration (0.24 ± 0.04 vs 0.12 ± 0.02; P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence of impaired muscle mitochondrial oxidative capacity in young, nonobese, glucose-tolerant, otherwise insulin-resistant vs insulin-sensitive individuals. Enhanced muscle lipid oxidative efficiency in insulin resistance could be a potential mechanism to prevent further lipotoxicity.