The bioactive sphingolipid playbook. A primer for the uninitiated as well as sphingolipidologists

Sphingolipids and glycosphingolipids are among the most structurally diverse and complex compounds in the mammalian metabolome. They are well known to play important roles in biological architecture, cell-cell communication, and cellular regulation, and for many biological processes, multiple sphing...

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Main Authors: Yusuf A. Hannun, Alfred H. Merrill, Jr., Chiara Luberto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Journal of Lipid Research
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022227525000732
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author Yusuf A. Hannun
Alfred H. Merrill, Jr.
Chiara Luberto
author_facet Yusuf A. Hannun
Alfred H. Merrill, Jr.
Chiara Luberto
author_sort Yusuf A. Hannun
collection DOAJ
description Sphingolipids and glycosphingolipids are among the most structurally diverse and complex compounds in the mammalian metabolome. They are well known to play important roles in biological architecture, cell-cell communication, and cellular regulation, and for many biological processes, multiple sphingolipids are involved. Thus, it is not surprising that untargeted genetic/transcriptomic/pharmacologic/metabolomic screens have uncovered changes in sphingolipids and sphingolipid genes/proteins while studying physiological and pathological processes. Consequently, with increasing frequency, both targeted and untargeted mass spectrometry methodologies are being used to conduct sphingolipidomic analyses. Interpretation of such large data sets and design of follow-up experiments can be daunting for investigators with limited expertise with sphingolipids (and sometimes even for someone well-versed in sphingolipidology). Therefore, this review gives an overview of essential elements of sphingolipid structure and analysis, metabolism, functions, and roles in disease and discusses some of the items to consider when interpreting lipidomics data and designing follow-up investigations.
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spelling doaj-art-2c16f99cc4ff4b289b612a4dcd68db282025-08-20T03:32:00ZengElsevierJournal of Lipid Research0022-22752025-06-0166610081310.1016/j.jlr.2025.100813The bioactive sphingolipid playbook. A primer for the uninitiated as well as sphingolipidologistsYusuf A. Hannun0Alfred H. Merrill, Jr.1Chiara Luberto2Departments of Biochemistry, Medicine, and the Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA; For correspondence: Yusuf A. Hannun; Alfred H. Merrill; Chiara LubertoSchool of Biological Sciences and the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA; For correspondence: Yusuf A. Hannun; Alfred H. Merrill; Chiara LubertoDepartment of Physiology and Biophysics, and the Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA; For correspondence: Yusuf A. Hannun; Alfred H. Merrill; Chiara LubertoSphingolipids and glycosphingolipids are among the most structurally diverse and complex compounds in the mammalian metabolome. They are well known to play important roles in biological architecture, cell-cell communication, and cellular regulation, and for many biological processes, multiple sphingolipids are involved. Thus, it is not surprising that untargeted genetic/transcriptomic/pharmacologic/metabolomic screens have uncovered changes in sphingolipids and sphingolipid genes/proteins while studying physiological and pathological processes. Consequently, with increasing frequency, both targeted and untargeted mass spectrometry methodologies are being used to conduct sphingolipidomic analyses. Interpretation of such large data sets and design of follow-up experiments can be daunting for investigators with limited expertise with sphingolipids (and sometimes even for someone well-versed in sphingolipidology). Therefore, this review gives an overview of essential elements of sphingolipid structure and analysis, metabolism, functions, and roles in disease and discusses some of the items to consider when interpreting lipidomics data and designing follow-up investigations.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022227525000732pathway analysistargeted lipidomicsuntargeted lipidomics
spellingShingle Yusuf A. Hannun
Alfred H. Merrill, Jr.
Chiara Luberto
The bioactive sphingolipid playbook. A primer for the uninitiated as well as sphingolipidologists
Journal of Lipid Research
pathway analysis
targeted lipidomics
untargeted lipidomics
title The bioactive sphingolipid playbook. A primer for the uninitiated as well as sphingolipidologists
title_full The bioactive sphingolipid playbook. A primer for the uninitiated as well as sphingolipidologists
title_fullStr The bioactive sphingolipid playbook. A primer for the uninitiated as well as sphingolipidologists
title_full_unstemmed The bioactive sphingolipid playbook. A primer for the uninitiated as well as sphingolipidologists
title_short The bioactive sphingolipid playbook. A primer for the uninitiated as well as sphingolipidologists
title_sort bioactive sphingolipid playbook a primer for the uninitiated as well as sphingolipidologists
topic pathway analysis
targeted lipidomics
untargeted lipidomics
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022227525000732
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