Ceramidases

Ceramidases (EC 3.5.1.23) are a group of enzymes which catalyze the hydrolysis of ceramides to produce sphingosine, which subsequently undergoes phosphorylation to generate sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P). Ceramide and its downstream products, sphingosine and S1P, are bioactive lipids that mediate various cellular processes including cell growth arrest, differentiation and apoptosis.

The expression of ceramides increases in response to stressful stimuli, such as proapoptotic cytokines, cancer chemotherapeutic agents, UV and ionizing radiation, vitamins such as retinoic acid, and serum deprivation.

Members of the ceramidase enzyme family can be classified according to their substrate as well as their optimum pH for biological activity. Due to differences in substrate specificity between the ceramidases, cellular localization, tissue distribution and expression, several distinct physiological roles have been suggested for these enzymes. For example, upregulation of acid and neutral ceramidases is linked to cell proliferation and survival, whilst upregulation of alkaline ceramidases has divergent effects dependent on the enzyme subtype (Alkaline ceramidases 1, 2 or 3).

External sources of pharmacological information for Ceramidases :

• BJP Guide

Literature for Ceramidases

Tocris offers the following scientific literature for Ceramidases to showcase our products. We invite you to request* your copy today!

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Programmed Cell Death Poster

There are two currently recognized forms of programmed cell death: apoptosis and necroptosis. This poster summarizes the signaling pathways involved in apoptosis, necroptosis and cell survival following death receptor activation, and highlights the influence of the molecular switch, cFLIP, on cell fate.

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Ceramidase Gene Data