Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.
Sphingolipids in obesity and related complications
Sphingolipids are biologically active lipids ubiquitously produced in all vertebrate cells. Aside from their role as structural components of cell membranes, sphingolipids also function as intracellular and extracellular mediators that regulate many important physiological cellular processes including cell survival, proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, migration and immune processes. Recent studies have also indicated that disruption of sphingolipid metabolism is strongly associated with different diseases that exhibit diverse neurological and metabolic consequences. Here, we briefly summarize current evidence for understanding of sphingolipid pathways in obesity and its associated complications. The regulation of sphingolipids and their enzymes may have a great impact on the development of novel therapeutic modalities for a variety of metabolic diseases.