Wang Weiyuan, Toran Paul T, Sabol Rachel, Brown Timothy J, Barth Brian M
Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824 USA.
Department of Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390 USA.
Int J Biopharm Sci. 2018 Oct;1(2). doi: 10.31021/ijbs.20181105. Epub 2018 Jan 22.
Sphingolipids represent one of the major classes of bioactive lipids. Studies of sphingolipids have intensified in the past several years, revealing their roles in nearly all cell biological processes. In addition, epigenetic regulation has gained substantial interest due to its role in controlling gene expression and activity without changing the genetic code. In this review, we first introduce a brief background on sphingolipid biology, highlighting its role in pathophysiology. We then illustrate the concept of epigenetic regulation, focusing on how it affects the metabolism of sphingolipids. We further discuss the roles of bioactive sphingolipids as epigenetic regulators themselves. Overall, a better understanding of the relationship between epigenetics and sphingolipid metabolism may help to improve the development of sphingolipid-targeted therapeutics.
鞘脂是一类主要的生物活性脂质。在过去几年中，对鞘脂的研究不断加强，揭示了它们在几乎所有细胞生物学过程中的作用。此外，表观遗传调控因其在不改变遗传密码的情况下控制基因表达和活性的作用而备受关注。在本综述中，我们首先介绍鞘脂生物学的简要背景，强调其在病理生理学中的作用。然后我们阐述表观遗传调控的概念，重点关注其如何影响鞘脂的代谢。我们还进一步讨论了生物活性鞘脂本身作为表观遗传调节剂的作用。总体而言，更好地理解表观遗传学与鞘脂代谢之间的关系可能有助于改进针对鞘脂的治疗方法的开发。
