Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2021 Dec;65:126-135. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2021.08.002. Epub 2021 Sep 9.
Sphingolipids (SLs) are a unique class of nitrogen-linked lipids that are involved in membrane structure, cell signaling, and other important cellular processes. Abnormal sphingolipid metabolism is observed in several diseases including cancer, diabetes, metabolic disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's. However, the direct study of SLs has been hampered by their ubiquitous presence in cells and their complex metabolism. In the past few decades, efforts have been focused on creating synthetic probes and chemical tools to study SLs and decipher their roles in cellular biology. In this brief perspective, we seek to provide a concise snapshot of recently developed state-of-the-art chemical tools in SL research and the challenges that can be addressed through further development of SL probes.
鞘脂类（SLs）是一类独特的含氮脂类，参与膜结构、细胞信号转导和其他重要的细胞过程。几种疾病（包括癌症、糖尿病、代谢紊乱和神经退行性疾病，如阿尔茨海默病）中均观察到鞘脂代谢异常。然而，由于 SL 广泛存在于细胞中及其复杂的代谢，直接研究 SL 受到了阻碍。在过去的几十年中，人们致力于创建合成探针和化学工具来研究 SL 并破译它们在细胞生物学中的作用。在本简要观点中，我们旨在提供 SL 研究中最新开发的最先进化学工具的简明快照，并讨论通过进一步开发 SL 探针可以解决的挑战。
