Phosphorylation of serine palmitoyltransferase long chain-1 (SPTLC1) on tyrosine 164 inhibits its activity and promotes cell survival.

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Citation

Taouji S, Higa A, Delom F, Palcy S, Mahon FX, Pasquet JM, Bosse R, Segui B, Chevet E

Phosphorylation of serine palmitoyltransferase long chain-1 (SPTLC1) on tyrosine 164 inhibits its activity and promotes cell survival.

J Biol Chem. 2013 Jun 14;288(24):17190-201. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M112.409185. Epub 2013 Apr 29.

PubMed ID
23629659 [ View in PubMed
]
Abstract

In BCR-ABL-expressing cells, sphingolipid metabolism is altered. Because the first step of sphingolipid biosynthesis occurs in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), our objective was to identify ABL targets in the ER. A phosphoproteomic analysis of canine pancreatic ER microsomes identified 49 high scoring phosphotyrosine-containing peptides. These were then categorized in silico and validated in vitro. We demonstrated that the ER-resident human protein serine palmitoyltransferase long chain-1 (SPTLC1), which is the first enzyme of sphingolipid biosynthesis, is phosphorylated at Tyr(164) by the tyrosine kinase ABL. Inhibition of BCR-ABL using either imatinib or shRNA-mediated silencing led to the activation of SPTLC1 and to increased apoptosis in both K562 and LAMA-84 cells. Finally, we demonstrated that mutation of Tyr(164) to Phe in SPTLC1 increased serine palmitoyltransferase activity. The Y164F mutation also promoted the remodeling of cellular sphingolipid content, thereby sensitizing K562 cells to apoptosis. Our observations provide a mechanistic explanation for imatinib-mediated cell death and a novel avenue for therapeutic strategies.

DrugBank Data that Cites this Article

Polypeptides
NameUniProt ID
Serine palmitoyltransferase 1O15269Details