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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1995 Dec 19;92(26):12275–12279. doi: 10.1073/pnas.92.26.12275

Ceramide formation during heat shock: a potential mediator of alpha B-crystallin transcription.

Y Chang 1, A Abe 1, J A Shayman 1
PMCID: PMC40339  PMID: 8618884

Abstract

Ceramide has been identified as a potential second messenger that may mediate cell differentiation and apoptosis after exposure to hormonal agonists such as 1 alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, tumor necrosis factor alpha, or gamma-interferon. The secondary cellular events that follow ceramide generation remain undefined. We report that in NIH WT-3T3 cells, ceramide induces an enhancement of gene transcription of alpha B-crystallin, a small heat shock protein. The levels of alpha B-crystallin, as measured by Northern blot and immunoblot analyses, were increased by the addition of an exogenous short-chain ceramide, N-acetylsphingosine, or by increasing endogenous intracellular ceramide by inhibition of glucosylceramide synthase. Similar effects were not seen in the expression of the closely related gene, Hsp25. To ascertain whether ceramide-mediated gene transcription was a feature of the heat shock response, cell ceramide was measured in heat shocked cells and observed to be elevated 2-fold immediately upon the return of cells to 37 degrees C. Thus ceramide formed after heat shock treatment of 3T3 cells may mediate the transcription events associated with the cell stress response.

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Selected References

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