2. Academic Validation
  3. The Functional Role of Sphingosine Kinase 2

The Functional Role of Sphingosine Kinase 2

  • Front Mol Biosci. 2021 May 14:8:683767. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.683767.
Rocio Diaz Escarcega 1,  Louise D McCullough 1 2,  Andrey S Tsvetkov 1 2 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Neurology, The University of Texas McGovern Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX, United States.
  • 2 The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX, United States.
  • 3 UTHealth Consortium on Aging, The University of Texas McGovern Medical School, Houston, TX, United States.
PMID: 34055895 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.683767
Abstract

Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive lipid molecule that is present in all eukaryotic cells and plays key roles in various extracellular, cytosolic, and nuclear signaling pathways. Two sphingosine kinase isoforms, sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1) and sphingosine kinase 2 (SphK2), synthesize S1P by phosphorylating sphingosine. While SphK1 is a cytoplasmic kinase, SphK2 is localized to the nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, and mitochondria. The SphK2/S1P pathway regulates transcription, telomere maintenance, mitochondrial respiration, among many Other processes. SphK2 is under investigation as a target for treating many age-associated conditions, such as Cancer, stroke, and neurodegeneration. In this review, we will focus on the role of SphK2 in health and disease.

Keywords

aging; nuclear lipids; sphingolipids; sphingosine kinase 2; sphingosine-1-phosphate.

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