Garcia-Ruiz Carmen, Morales Albert, Fernández-Checa José C
Department of Cell Death and Proliferation, Instituto Investigaciones Biomedicas de Barcelona, CSIC, Barcelona, Spain.
Apoptosis. 2015 May;20(5):607-20. doi: 10.1007/s10495-015-1092-6.
Glycosphingolipids (GSLs) are a family of bioactive lipids that in addition to their role in the regulation of structural properties of membrane bilayers have emerged as crucial players in many biological processes and signal transduction pathways. Rather than being uniformly distributed within membrane bilayers, GSLs are localized in selective domains called lipid rafts where many signaling platforms operate. One of the most important functions of GSLs, particularly ceramide, is their ability to regulate cell death pathways and hence cell fate. This complex role is accomplished by the ability of GSLs to act in distinct subcellular strategic centers, such as mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) or lysosomes to mediate apoptosis, ER stress, autophagy, lysosomal membrane permeabilization and necroptosis. Hence better understanding the role of GSLs in cell death may be of relevance for a number of pathological processes and diseases, including neurodegeneration, metabolic liver diseases and cancer.
糖鞘脂（GSLs）是一类生物活性脂质，它们除了在调节膜双层结构特性方面发挥作用外，还在许多生物过程和信号转导途径中成为关键参与者。GSLs并非均匀分布在膜双层中，而是定位在称为脂筏的选择性区域，许多信号平台在那里发挥作用。GSLs，特别是神经酰胺，最重要的功能之一是它们调节细胞死亡途径从而决定细胞命运的能力。GSLs能够在不同的亚细胞战略中心发挥作用，如线粒体、内质网（ER）或溶酶体，以介导细胞凋亡、内质网应激、自噬、溶酶体膜通透性增加和坏死性凋亡，从而实现这一复杂的作用。因此，更好地理解GSLs在细胞死亡中的作用可能与许多病理过程和疾病相关，包括神经退行性变、代谢性肝病和癌症。
