Sphingolipid

Sphingolipids are lipids built on a sphingoid base, usually with a fatty acid attached. They include ceramides, sphingomyelin, and glycosphingolipids.

Sphingoid base: A long-chain amino alcohol that forms the structural backbone of sphingolipids. Its amino alcohol backbone is the defining scaffold of this lipid class.
De novo ceramide synthesis: The pathway that builds ceramide from serine and a fatty acyl-CoA through sphingoid intermediates. It constructs the core lipid from which many sphingolipid species derive.
Lipid raft: A dynamic membrane domain enriched in cholesterol and sphingolipids that organizes selected proteins. Sphingolipids help create the ordered membrane environments associated with these domains.
Apoptosis: A regulated form of cell death involving coordinated molecular pathways. Ceramide can participate in signaling pathways that promote cell death.
Ceramide: A sphingoid base joined to a fatty acid by an amide bond. Ceramide is the central precursor from which many complex sphingolipids are made.
Sphingomyelinase: An enzyme that hydrolyzes sphingomyelin to produce ceramide and phosphocholine. It converts a membrane sphingolipid into ceramide during turnover and signaling.
Myelin: A lipid-rich insulating sheath around many neuronal axons, produced by glial cells. Sphingolipids are abundant structural components of myelin membranes.
Cell signaling: The processes by which cells detect, transmit, and respond to molecular signals. Sphingolipid metabolites act as signals that alter cellular behavior.
Sphingosine: An 18-carbon unsaturated sphingoid base found in many animal sphingolipids. It is a common backbone that can be acylated to form ceramide.
Ceramidase: An enzyme that hydrolyzes ceramide into a sphingoid base and a fatty acid. It breaks down ceramide and can supply sphingosine for further metabolism.

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