Sphingolipids have important structural and functional roles. They can be associated with membrane cholesterol and assist in forming specialized membrane domains. Sphingolipids, similar to phospholipids, have a polar head group with two nonpolar tails. Sphingolipids differ from phospholipids by their sphingosine core, a long-chain amino alcohol. sphingomyelins and glycosphingolipids are sphingolipids. Sphingolipids are produced in the endoplasmic reticulum. Sphinoglipid synthesis begins with palmitoyl-CoA and serine producing 3-keto-dihydrosphingosine by serine palmitoyltransferase. 3-Keto-dihydrosphingosine is then reduced to dihydrosphingosine which is then acylated to form dihydroceramide. Dihydroceramide is then dehyrogenated to ceramide. Ceramides are a sphingosine and fatty acid connected by an amide bond and can be produced by metabolism of sphingolipids. Ceramide can also be broken down back to sphingosine. Ceramide gets transported to the Golgi where it forms sphingomyelin or glycosphingolipids. From the Golgi, these products are transported by vesicles to specialized membrane domains.

Sphingolipid Metabolism References