It is known that phospholipids represent a minor component of chromatin. It has been highlighted recently that these lipids are metabolized directly inside the nucleus, thanks to the presence of enzymes related to their metabolism, such as neutral sphingomyelinase, sphingomyelin synthase, reverse sphingomyelin synthase and phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C. The chromatin enzymatic activities change during cell proliferation, differentiation and/or apoptosis, independently from the enzyme activities present in nuclear membrane, microsomes or cell membranes. This present study aimed to investigate crosstalk in lipid metabolism in nuclear membrane and chromatin isolated from rat liver in vitro and in vivo. The effect of neutral sphingomyelinase activity on phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C and sphingomyelin synthase, which enrich the intranuclear diacylglycerol pool, and the effect of phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C activity on neutral sphingomyelinase and reverse sphingomyelin synthase, which enrich the intranuclear ceramide pool, was investigated. The results show that in chromatin, there exists a phosphatidylcholine/sphingomyelin metabolism crosstalk which regulates the intranuclear ceramide/diacylglycerol pool. The enzyme activities were inhibited by D609, which demonstrated the specificity of this crosstalk. Chromatin lipid metabolism is activated in vivo during cell proliferation, indicating that it could play a role in cell function. The possible mechanism of crosstalk is discussed here, with consideration to recent advances in the field.
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Research Article|
February 12 2008
Phosphatidylcholine/sphingomyelin metabolism crosstalk inside the nucleus
Elisabetta Albi;
Elisabetta Albi
1
1Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Physiopathology, Policlinico Monteluce, University of Perugia, Via Brunamonti, 06100 Perugia, Italy
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email ealbi@unipg.it).
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Remo Lazzarini;
Remo Lazzarini
1Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Physiopathology, Policlinico Monteluce, University of Perugia, Via Brunamonti, 06100 Perugia, Italy
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Mariapia Viola Magni
Mariapia Viola Magni
1Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Physiopathology, Policlinico Monteluce, University of Perugia, Via Brunamonti, 06100 Perugia, Italy
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
June 05 2007
Revision Received:
November 14 2007
Accepted:
November 14 2007
Accepted Manuscript online:
November 14 2007
Online ISSN: 1470-8728
Print ISSN: 0264-6021
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2008 Biochemical Society
2008
Biochem J (2008) 410 (2): 381–389.
Article history
Received:
June 05 2007
Revision Received:
November 14 2007
Accepted:
November 14 2007
Accepted Manuscript online:
November 14 2007
Citation
Elisabetta Albi, Remo Lazzarini, Mariapia Viola Magni; Phosphatidylcholine/sphingomyelin metabolism crosstalk inside the nucleus. Biochem J 1 March 2008; 410 (2): 381–389. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BJ20070758
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