All members in the sphingomyelin synthase gene family have ceramide phosphoethanolamine synthase activity

作者：Ding, Tingbo; Kabir, Inamul; Li, Yue; Lou, Caixia; Yazdanyar, Amirfarbod; Xu, Jiachen; Dong, Jibin; Zhou, Hongwen; Park, Taesik; Boutjdir, Mohamed; Li, Zhiqiang; Jiang, Xian Cheng^*

来源：The Journal of Lipid Research, 2015, 56(3): 537-545.

DOI：10.1194/jlr.M054627

• sphingomyelin synthase-related protein
• sphingomyelin synthase 1
• sphingomyelin synthase 2
• mouse gene knockout

Sphingomyelin synthase-related protein (SMSr) synthesizes the sphingomyelin analog ceramide phosphoethanolamine (CPE) in cells. Previous cell studies indicated that SMSr is involved in ceramide homeostasis and is crucial for cell function. To further examine SMSr function in vivo, we generated Smsr KO mice that were fertile and had no obvious phenotypic alterations. Quantitative MS analyses of plasma, liver, and macrophages from the KO mice revealed only marginal changes in CPE and ceramide as well as other sphingolipid levels. Because SMS2 also has CPE synthase activity, we prepared Smsr/Sms2 double KO mice. We found that CPE levels were not significantly changed in macrophages, suggesting that CPE levels are not exclusively dependent on SMSr and SMS2 activities. We then measured CPE levels in Sms1 KO mice and found that Sms1 deficiency also reduced plasma CPE levels. Importantly, we found that expression of Sms1 or Sms2 in SF9 insect cells significantly increased not only SM but also CPE formation, indicating that SMS1 also has CPE synthase activity. Moreover, we measured CPE synthase K-m and V-max for SMS1, SMS2, and SMSr using different NBD ceramides. Our study reveals that all mouse SMS family members (SMSr, SMS1, and SMS2) have CPE synthase activity. However, neither CPE nor SMSr appears to be a critical regulator of ceramide levels in vivo.

• 出版日期2015-3
• 单位复旦大学; 南京医科大学; 广东省医学实验动物中心