Ceramide and Regulation of Vascular Tone

Angel Cogolludo*, Eduardo Villamor, Francisco Perez-Vizcaino, Laura Moreno

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal(Systematic) Review article peer-review

Abstract

In addition to playing a role as a structural component of cellular membranes, ceramide is now clearly recognized as a bioactive lipid implicated in a variety of physiological functions. This review aims to provide updated information on the role of ceramide in the regulation of vascular tone. Ceramide may induce vasodilator or vasoconstrictor effects by interacting with several signaling pathways in endothelial and smooth muscle cells. There is a clear, albeit complex, interaction between ceramide and redox signaling. In fact, reactive oxygen species (ROS) activate different ceramide generating pathways and, conversely, ceramide is known to increase ROS production. In recent years, ceramide has emerged as a novel key player in oxygen sensing in vascular cells and mediating vascular responses of crucial physiological relevance such as hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) or normoxic ductus arteriosus constriction. Likewise, a growing body of evidence over the last years suggests that exaggerated production of vascular ceramide may have detrimental effects in a number of pathological processes including cardiovascular and lung diseases.

Original languageEnglish
Article number411
Number of pages23
JournalInternational journal of molecular sciences
Volume20
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Jan 2019

Keywords

  • ACID SPHINGOMYELINASE
  • GATED K+ CHANNELS
  • HYPOXIC PULMONARY VASOCONSTRICTION
  • KINASE-C-ZETA
  • NECROSIS-FACTOR-ALPHA
  • NEUTRAL SPHINGOMYELINASE
  • NITRIC-OXIDE SYNTHASE
  • OXIDATIVE STRESS
  • PROTEIN PHOSPHATASE 2A
  • REDOX SIGNALING PLATFORMS
  • ceramide
  • hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction
  • normoxic ductus arteriosus
  • oxygen sensing
  • pulmonary
  • reactive oxygen species
  • sphingolipids
  • vascular

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