Sphingolipids and mitochondrial function, lessons learned from yeast
Authors:Pieter Spincemaille1, Bruno P.A. Cammue1,2 and Karin Thevissen1
doi: 10.15698/mic2014.07.156
Volume 1, pp. 210 to 224, published 25/06/2014.
1 Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics (CMPG), KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 20, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium.
2 Department of Plant Systems Biology, VIB, Technologiepark 927, 9052, Ghent, Belgium.
Keywords:
yeast, sphingolipids, mitochondrial function, Wilson disease, Niemann Pick type C1.
Corresponding Author(s):
Conflict of interest statement:
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Please cite this article as:
Pieter Spincemaille, Bruno P.A. Cammue and Karin Thevissen (2014). Sphingolipids and mitochondrial function, lessons learned from yeast. Microbial Cell 1(7): 210-224.
© 2014 Spincemaille et al. This is an open-access article released under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which allows the unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are acknowledged.
Abstract:
Mitochondrial dysfunction is a hallmark of several neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, but also of cancer, diabetes and rare diseases such as Wilson’s disease (WD) and Niemann Pick type C1 (NPC). Mitochondrial dysfunction underlying human pathologies has often been associated with an aberrant cellular sphingolipid metabolism. Sphingolipids (SLs) are important membrane constituents that also act as signaling molecules. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been pivotal in unraveling mammalian SL metabolism, mainly due to the high degree of conservation of SL metabolic pathways. In this review we will first provide a brief overview of the major differences in SL metabolism between yeast and mammalian cells and the use of SL biosynthetic inhibitors to elucidate the contribution of specific parts of the SL metabolic pathway in response to for instance stress. Next, we will discuss recent findings in yeast SL research concerning a crucial signaling role for SLs in orchestrating mitochondrial function, and translate these findings to relevant disease settings such as WD and NPC. In summary, recent research shows that S. cerevisiae is an invaluable model to investigate SLs as signaling molecules in modulating mitochondrial function, but can also be used as a tool to further enhance our current knowledge on SLs and mitochondria in mammalian cells.