Phytosphingosine 1-phosphate

Lipidomics Gateway (24 February 2010) [doi:10.1038/lipidmaps.2010.7]

Abundant in plants and fungi but also found in animals, this signaling lipid regulates cellular stress responses in yeast.

Structure of phytosphingosine 1-phosphate. Visit PhS1P in the LIPID MAPS structure database for more molecular information.

Sphingolipids are a diverse and ubiquitous class of lipids with at least 500 members, and are involved in a wide range of cellular processes. Efforts to characterize individual sphingolipid species and their many roles have coalesced into an entire subdivision of lipidomics, termed shingolipidomics 1 . In fungi and plants, one of the most widely distributed sphingoid bases is phytosphingosine-1-phosphate (PhS1P). It is also found in lesser amounts in animals 2 .

Although not so famous as the structurally-related signaling lipid sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), PhS1P is bioactive and is reported to activate at least one S1P receptor 3 . Generated from phytosphingosine by sphingosine kinase, its role in plants is unknown. However, it is known to induce stomatal closure in Arabidopsis and is thought to be a ubiquitous plant messenger, in common with S1P 4 .

In mammals, lipid mediators including S1P produce chemotactic and other cellular responses that are relevant to cancer. PhS1P likewise stimulates migration of mouse fibroblasts, but the mechanism and pathological or physiological roles of this response are unknown 2 .

A study published last month in Molecular Systems Biology combined lipidomics with transcriptomic and genomic data, and defined the first specific signaling role for PhS1P in yeast. It was found to regulate a set of genes involved in mitochondrial respiration, and this required a transcription factor called the HAP complex 5 . As sphingolipidomics progresses, PhS1P and its place in sphingolipid pathways will be further characterized.

Emma Leah

References:

  1. Pata, M.O., Hannun, Y.A., Ng, C. K-Y. Plant sphingolipids: decoding the enigma of the Sphinx.

    New Phytologist 185, 611-630 (2009). doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2009.03123.x

  2. Kim, M.-K. et al. Phytosphingosine-1-phosphate stimulates chemotactic migration of L2071 mouse fibroblasts via pertussis toxin-sensitive G-proteins.

    Exp. Mol. Med. 39, 185-194 (2007).

  3. Candelore, M. R. et al. Phytosphingosine 1-phosphate: a high affinity ligand for the S1P(4)/Edg-6 receptor.

    Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 297, 600-606 (2002). doi:10.1016/S0006-291X(02)02237-4

  4. Worral, D. et al. Involvement of sphingosine kinase in plant cell signaling.

    The Plant Journal 56, 64-72 (2008). doi:10.1111/j.1365-313X.2008.03579.x

  5. Cowart, L. A. et al. Revealing a signaling role of phytosphingosine-1-phosphate in yeast.

    Molecular Systems Biology 6, 349 (2010). doi:10.1038/msb.2010.3