Mycotoxin-induced elevation of free sphingoid bases in precision-cut rat liver slices: specificity of the response and structure-activity relationships.

Fumonisin B1 (FB1) is the predominant member of a family of toxic metabolites produced by several species of Fusarium and is commonly found on corn. FB1 is a potent competitive inhibitor of ceramide synthase, which catalyzes the conversion of sphinganine and sphingosine to ceramide. The resultant accumulation of free sphingoid bases and the disruption of sphingolipid metabolism is believed to be the mechanism of toxicity of the fumonisins. The objectives of this study were to determine the relative potency of analogs of FB1 to inhibit ceramide synthase and to determine whether the inhibition is specific to mycotoxins with fumonisin-like structures. Fumonisins B1, B2, B3, B4, C4, and TA toxin (a structurally similar mycotoxin produced by the tomato pathogen, Alternaria alternata f. sp. lycopersici) were approximately equipotent inhibitors. Hydrolyzed fumonisins B1, B2, and B3, which lack the tricarballylic side chains, were only 30-40% as potent as the parent toxins. N-acetylated FB1 (FA1) did not block ceramide synthase, suggesting that FA1 is nontoxic. Inhibition of ceramide synthase by fumonisin analogs did not appear to be related to the lipophilicity of the compounds, as determined by computer estimation of log P values. The ability of relatively high (10 and 100 microm) doses of other mycotoxins that bear no structural similarity to fumonisins, including aflatoxin B1, cyclopiazonic acid, beauvericin, T-2 toxin, sterigmatocystin, luteoskyrin, verrucarin A, scirpentriol, and zearalenone, to block ceramide synthase was also determined. All of the toxins tested were negative in the bioassay with the exception of fumonisins, indicating that disruption of sphingolipid metabolism is a specific cytotoxic response.