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Query: UMLS:C0153640 (Cerebellum)
 1,777 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Cerebellar astrocytes are equipped with an efficient molecular machinery able to control the levels, and possibly the subcellular location, of ceramide. The major metabolic routes that contribute to the maintenance and variation of the cellular ceramide include ceramide biosynthesis, by de novo pathway or sphingosine recycling, ceramide formation from complex sphingolipids degradation and ceramide catabolism. In cerebellar astrocytes from rat cerebellum a peculiar metabolism of sphingomyelin occurs. This includes the preponderance of acidic sphingomyelinase, paralleled by a deficiency of the neutral Mg2+-dependent enzyme, as well as the presence of an extra-Golgi form of sphingomyelin synthase, which shares many characteristics with PC-PLC. Moreover these cells are characterized by a high efficiency in converting sphingosine to ceramide, possibly functional to the role played by astrocytes in the prevention of neuronal damage by high sphingosine concentration. Recent evidence demonstrates that a change of ceramide level is one of the key steps in the chain of reactions elicited by mitogenic stimuli. In fact, low cellular levels of ceramide characterize, and appear to be required for, the proliferation of cerebellar astrocytes. In particular mitogenic stimuli, such as basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), rapidly down regulate the cellular levels of ceramide by stimulating sphingomyelin synthase. Ceramide acts as an intracellular physiological inhibitor of cell growth, being able to counteract the effect of bFGF by inhibiting the MAP kinase pathway. Although many questions remain in this field, the present knowledge strongly supports that ceramide represents a crucial member within lipid mediators, involved in the signaling pathways underlying cell proliferation in cerebellar astrocytes.
Cerebellum 2002 Apr
PMID:Ceramide in primary astrocytes from cerebellum: metabolism and role in cell proliferation. 1288 62

The mitogenic role of sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) and its involvement in basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)-induced proliferation were examined in primary cultures of cerebellar astrocytes. Exposure to bFGF resulted in a rapid increase of extracellular S1P formation, bFGF inducing astrocytes to release S1P, but not sphingosine kinase, in the extracellular milieu. The SK inhibitor N,N-dimethylsphingosine inhibited S1P release as well as bFGF-induced growth stimulation. S1P application in quiescent astrocytes caused a dose-dependent increase in DNA synthesis. This gliotrophic effect was induced by a brief exposure to low nanomolar S1P, mimicked by the S1P receptor agonist dihydro-S1P, and inhibited by pertussis toxin (PTX), an inactivator of G(i)/G(o)-proteins. S1P also induced activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase that was inhibited again by PTX. Moreover, the S1P lyase inhibitor 4-deoxypyridoxine induced the cellular accumulation of S1P but did not affect DNA synthesis. These results support the view that S1P exerted a mitogenic effect on cerebellar astrocytes extracellularly, most likely through cell surface S1P receptors. In agreement, mRNAs for S1P1, S1P2, and S1P3 receptors are expressed in cerebellar astrocytes (Anelli et al., 2005. J Neurochem 92:1204-1215). Ceramide, a negative regulator of astrocyte proliferation and down-regulated by bFGF (Riboni et al., 2002. Cerebellum 1:129-135), efficiently inhibited S1P-induced proliferation. The S1P action appears to be part of an autocrine/paracrine cascade stimulated by bFGF and, together with ceramide down-regulation, essential for astrocytes to respond to bFGF. The results suggest that S1P and bFGF/S1P may play an important role in physiopathological glial proliferation, such as brain development, reactive gliosis and brain tumor formation.
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PMID:Sphingosine-1-phosphate is released by cerebellar astrocytes in response to bFGF and induces astrocyte proliferation through Gi-protein-coupled receptors. 1647 Aug 10