Recent advances in understanding ceramide-regulated responses

Recent advances in understanding ceramide-regulated responses 

There are many frontiers coming to fore where ceramide is emerging as an important intermediate. Recent findings highlight roles for ceramide in the regulation of apoptosis, oxidative stress, heat stress, and disease, and these are discussed below as examples/models of current investigations in this area of research. 

Intracellular pathways leading to apoptosis, and the role of the ceramide-mediated stress response, have been intensively studied. In-depth reviews of the role of ceramide in apoptosis are available (Levade et al., 2002 Pettus et al., 2002). 

The mechanisms regulating apoptosis are complex and involve multiple signaling and regulatory pathways. At a very general level, two pathways for the induction of apoptosis have been described. For the purpose of this discussion we will refer to them as  

Ceramide has long been thought to exert many of its effects on the mitochondrion directly. Past evidence has indicated roles for TNFa-induced ceramide accumulation in mitochondria, including inhibition of respiratory chain complexes, generation of reactive oxygen species, and disruption of mitochondrial function. Several studies support these findings. 

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E. Recent advances in understanding ceramide-regulated responses... 

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