Cargando…
Sphingolipids in Atherosclerosis: Chimeras in Structure and Function
Atherosclerosis—a systemic inflammatory disease—is the number one cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. As such, the prevention of disease progression is of global interest in order to reduce annual deaths at a significant scale. Atherosclerosis is characterized by plaque formation in the arte...
Autores principales: | , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2022
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9570378/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36233252 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms231911948 |
_version_ | 1784810091488215040 |
---|---|
author | Peters, Lisa Kuebler, Wolfgang M. Simmons, Szandor |
author_facet | Peters, Lisa Kuebler, Wolfgang M. Simmons, Szandor |
author_sort | Peters, Lisa |
collection | PubMed |
description | Atherosclerosis—a systemic inflammatory disease—is the number one cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. As such, the prevention of disease progression is of global interest in order to reduce annual deaths at a significant scale. Atherosclerosis is characterized by plaque formation in the arteries, resulting in vascular events such as ischemic stroke or myocardial infarction. A better understanding of the underlying pathophysiological processes at the cellular and molecular level is indispensable to identify novel therapeutic targets that may alleviate disease initiation or progression. Sphingolipids—a lipid class named after the chimeric creature sphinx—are considered to play a critical and, metaphorically, equally chimeric regulatory role in atherogenesis. Previous studies identified six common sphingolipids, namely dihydroceramide (DhCer), ceramide (Cer), sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), sphingomyelin (SM), lactosylceramide (LacCer), and glucosylceramide (GluCer) in carotid plaques, and demonstrated their potential as inducers of plaque inflammation. In this review, we point out their specific roles in atherosclerosis by focusing on different cell types, carrier molecules, enzymes, and receptors involved in atherogenesis. Whereas we assume mainly atheroprotective effects for GluCer and LacCer, the sphingolipids DhCer, Cer, SM and S1P mediate chimeric functions. Initial studies demonstrate the successful use of interventions in the sphingolipid pathway to prevent atherosclerosis. However, as atherosclerosis is a multifactorial disease with a variety of underlying cellular processes, it is imperative for future research to emphasize the circumstances in which sphingolipids exert protective or progressive functions and to evaluate their therapeutic benefits in a spatiotemporal manner. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9570378 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-95703782022-10-17 Sphingolipids in Atherosclerosis: Chimeras in Structure and Function Peters, Lisa Kuebler, Wolfgang M. Simmons, Szandor Int J Mol Sci Review Atherosclerosis—a systemic inflammatory disease—is the number one cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. As such, the prevention of disease progression is of global interest in order to reduce annual deaths at a significant scale. Atherosclerosis is characterized by plaque formation in the arteries, resulting in vascular events such as ischemic stroke or myocardial infarction. A better understanding of the underlying pathophysiological processes at the cellular and molecular level is indispensable to identify novel therapeutic targets that may alleviate disease initiation or progression. Sphingolipids—a lipid class named after the chimeric creature sphinx—are considered to play a critical and, metaphorically, equally chimeric regulatory role in atherogenesis. Previous studies identified six common sphingolipids, namely dihydroceramide (DhCer), ceramide (Cer), sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), sphingomyelin (SM), lactosylceramide (LacCer), and glucosylceramide (GluCer) in carotid plaques, and demonstrated their potential as inducers of plaque inflammation. In this review, we point out their specific roles in atherosclerosis by focusing on different cell types, carrier molecules, enzymes, and receptors involved in atherogenesis. Whereas we assume mainly atheroprotective effects for GluCer and LacCer, the sphingolipids DhCer, Cer, SM and S1P mediate chimeric functions. Initial studies demonstrate the successful use of interventions in the sphingolipid pathway to prevent atherosclerosis. However, as atherosclerosis is a multifactorial disease with a variety of underlying cellular processes, it is imperative for future research to emphasize the circumstances in which sphingolipids exert protective or progressive functions and to evaluate their therapeutic benefits in a spatiotemporal manner. MDPI 2022-10-08 /pmc/articles/PMC9570378/ /pubmed/36233252 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms231911948 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Review Peters, Lisa Kuebler, Wolfgang M. Simmons, Szandor Sphingolipids in Atherosclerosis: Chimeras in Structure and Function |
title | Sphingolipids in Atherosclerosis: Chimeras in Structure and Function |
title_full | Sphingolipids in Atherosclerosis: Chimeras in Structure and Function |
title_fullStr | Sphingolipids in Atherosclerosis: Chimeras in Structure and Function |
title_full_unstemmed | Sphingolipids in Atherosclerosis: Chimeras in Structure and Function |
title_short | Sphingolipids in Atherosclerosis: Chimeras in Structure and Function |
title_sort | sphingolipids in atherosclerosis: chimeras in structure and function |
topic | Review |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9570378/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36233252 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms231911948 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT peterslisa sphingolipidsinatherosclerosischimerasinstructureandfunction AT kueblerwolfgangm sphingolipidsinatherosclerosischimerasinstructureandfunction AT simmonsszandor sphingolipidsinatherosclerosischimerasinstructureandfunction |