Abstract
The sphingolipidome is the portion of the lipidome that encompasses all sphingoid bases and their derivatives. Whereas the most studied sphingoid base is sphingosine [(2S,3R,4E)-2-aminooctadecene-1,3-diol], mammals have dozens of structural variants, and hundreds of additional types have been found in other eukaryotic organisms and some bacteria and viruses. Multiplying these figures by the N-acyl-derivatives ("ceramides") and the more than 500 phospho- and glyco- headgroups places the number of discrete molecular species in the tens of thousands or higher. Structure-specific, quantitative information about a growing fraction of the sphingolipidome can now be obtained using various types of chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry, and application of these methods is producing many surprises regarding sphingolipid structure, metabolism, and function. Such large data sets can be difficult to interpret, but the development of tools that display results from genomic and lipidomic studies in a pathway relational, nodal, context can make it easier for investigators to deal with this complexity.
Highlights
COMPONENTS OF THE SPHINGOLIPIDOMEThe sphingolipidome is comprised of all sphingoid bases and their derivatives [2]. Sphingoid bases have been defined as “... long-chain aliphatic amino alcohols... represented by the compound originally called ‘dihydrosphingosine (2S,3R)-2-aminooctadecane-1,3-diol...[and]... imply a chain length of 18 carbon atoms” [4, 5]
The sphingolipidome is the portion of the lipidome that encompasses all sphingoid bases and their derivatives
Mammalian sphingolipids have over a dozen other types of sphingoid base backbones that differ in the number of double bonds, Abbreviations: 1-deoxySa, 1-deoxysphinganine; 3-ketoSa, 3-ketosphinganine; Cer, ceramides; Cerase, ceramidase; Cer1P, ceramide 1phosphate; DHCer, dihydroceramide; EP, ethanolamine phosphate; ESI, electrospray ionization; GalCer, galactosylceramide; GlcCer, glucosylceramide; GM, ganglioside (GM1, GM2, GM3); KEGG, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes; LacCer, lactosylceramide; MS/MS, tandem mass spectrometry; Sa, sphinganine; Sa1P, sphinganine 1-phosphate; So, sphingosine; So1P, sphingosine 1-phosphate; SM, sphingomyelin; SMase, sphingomyelinase; ST, sulfatide
Summary
The sphingolipidome is comprised of all sphingoid bases and their derivatives [2]. Sphingoid bases have been defined as “... long-chain aliphatic amino alcohols... represented by the compound originally called ‘dihydrosphingosine (2S,3R)-2-aminooctadecane-1,3-diol...[and]... imply a chain length of 18 carbon atoms” [4, 5]. Dihydrosphingosine ( called sphinganine) and its N-acyl-derivatives [dihydroceramides (DHCer)] are intermediates in the de novo biosynthesis of ceramide (N-acyl-sphingosine), which has the sphingosine backbone (Fig. 1) [6]. Mammalian sphingolipids have over a dozen other types of sphingoid base backbones that differ in the number of double bonds, Abbreviations: 1-deoxySa, 1-deoxysphinganine; 3-ketoSa, 3-ketosphinganine; Cer, ceramides; Cerase, ceramidase; Cer1P, ceramide 1phosphate; DHCer, dihydroceramide; EP, ethanolamine phosphate; ESI, electrospray ionization; GalCer, galactosylceramide; GlcCer, glucosylceramide; GM, ganglioside (GM1, GM2, GM3); KEGG, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes; LacCer, lactosylceramide; MS/MS, tandem mass spectrometry; Sa, sphinganine; Sa1P, sphinganine 1-phosphate; So, sphingosine; So1P, sphingosine 1-phosphate; SM, sphingomyelin; SMase, sphingomyelinase; ST, sulfatide. Data bases and bioinformatics tools to deal with this complexity are being developed by a number of organizations, such as the LIPID MAPS Consortium (www.lipidmaps.org), the Consortium for Functional Glycomics Data bases and bioinformatics tools to deal with this complexity are being developed by a number of organizations, such as the LIPID MAPS Consortium (www.lipidmaps.org), the Consortium for Functional Glycomics (http://www.functionalglycomics. org), the Japanese Lipid Bank (www.lipidbank.jp), and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) (http:// www.genome.jp/kegg/glycan/) [9]
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