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pubmed:abstractText |
Ceramides act as a second messenger of the apoptotic signaling process. The allylic alcohol portion comprising the C-3, C-4, and C-5 carbons is essential for this function. The suggestion has been made that this alcohol moiety is oxidized in mitochondria to a carbonyl moiety, with the generation of reactive oxygen species. However, there is no established precedent for the apoptotic performance of 3-ketoceramides thus presumed. In this work, we have synthesized three different types of short-chain 3-ketoceramides, that is, (2S,4E)-2-acetylamino-3-oxo-4-octadecen-1-ol (A), (2S,4E,6E)-2-acetylamino-3-oxo-4,6-octadecadien-1-ol (B), and (2S,4E)-2-acetylamino-1-methoxy-3-oxo-4-octadecene (C), and demonstrated that these 3-ketoceramides are capable of inducing effective apoptosis in human leukemia HL-60 cells. In particular, the two monoenoic compounds, A and C, are far more powerful than the corresponding alcoholic analogue, N-acetyl-D-erythro-sphingosine. Observations of DNA fragmentation, caspase-3 activation, and cytochrome c release from mitochondria provide substantiated evidence for mitochondrial apoptosis and the effects of exogenous glutathione on these phenomena are also discussed.
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pubmed:affiliation |
Department of Applied and Bioapplied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka City University, Sugimoto 3-3-138, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka 558 8585, Japan. azumah@bioa.eng.osaka-cu.ac.jp
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