2. Academic Validation
  3. Function of ceramide transfer protein for biogenesis and sphingolipid composition of extracellular vesicles

Function of ceramide transfer protein for biogenesis and sphingolipid composition of extracellular vesicles

  • J Extracell Vesicles. 2022 Jun;11(6):e12233. doi: 10.1002/jev2.12233.
Simone M Crivelli 1 2,  Caterina Giovagnoni 3,  Zhihui Zhu 1,  Priyanka Tripathi 1 2,  Ahmed Elsherbini 1,  Zainuddin Quadri 1 2,  Jian Pu 4,  Liping Zhang 1 2,  Branislav Ferko 5,  Dusan Berkes 5,  Stefka D Spassieva 1,  Pilar Martinez-Martinez 3,  Erhard Bieberich 1 2
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Physiology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA.
  • 2 Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky, USA.
  • 3 Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
  • 4 Department of Surgery, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA.
  • 5 Department of Organic Chemistry, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
PMID: 35642450 DOI: 10.1002/jev2.12233
Abstract

The formation of extracellular vesicles (EVs) is induced by the sphingolipid ceramide. How this pathway is regulated is not entirely understood. Here, we report that the ceramide transport protein (CERT) mediates a non-vesicular transport of ceramide between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the multivesicular endosome at contact sites. The process depends on the interaction of CERT's PH domain with PI4P generated by PI4KIIα at endosomes. Furthermore, a complex is formed between the START domain of CERT, which carries ceramide, and the Tsg101 protein, which is part of the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT-I). Inhibition of ceramide biosynthesis reduces CERT-Tsg101 complex formation. Overexpression of CERT increases EV secretion while its inhibition reduces EV formation and the concentration of ceramides and sphingomyelins in EVs. In conclusion, we discovered a function of CERT in regulating the sphingolipid composition and biogenesis of EVs, which links ceramide to the ESCRT-dependent pathway.

Keywords

AlphaFold2; CERT; ER-endosome contact sites; HPA-12; NC03; PI4KIIIβ; PI4KIIIβ-IN-10; PI4KIIα; PI4P; Tsg101; ceramide; extracellular vesicles; sphingomyelin.

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