TY  - JOUR
A1  - Beckmann, Nadine
A1  - Kadow, Stephanie
A1  - Schumacher, Fabian
A1  - Goethert, Joachim R.
A1  - Kesper, Stefanie
A1  - Draeger, Annette
A1  - Schulz-Schaeffer, Walter J.
A1  - Wang, Jiang
A1  - Becker, Jan U.
A1  - Kramer, Melanie
A1  - Kuehn, Claudine
A1  - Kleuser, Burkhard
A1  - Becker, Katrin Anne
A1  - Gulbins, Erich
A1  - Carpinteiro, Alexander
T1  - Pathological manifestations of Farber disease in a new mouse model
JF  - Biological chemistry
N2  - Farber disease (FD) is a rare lysosomal storage disorder resulting from acid ceramidase deficiency and subsequent ceramide accumulation. No treatments are clinically available and affected patients have a severely shortened lifespan. Due to the low incidence, the pathogenesis of FD is still poorly understood. Here, we report a novel acid ceramidase mutant mouse model that enables the study of pathogenic mechanisms of FD and ceramide accumulation. Asah1(tmEx1) mice were generated by deletion of the acid ceramidase signal peptide sequence. The effects on lysosomal targeting and activity of the enzyme were assessed. Ceramide and sphingomyelin levels were quantified by liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and disease manifestations in several organ systems were analyzed by histology and biochemistry. We show that deletion of the signal peptide sequence disrupts lysosomal targeting and enzyme activity, resulting in ceramide and sphingomyelin accumulation. The affected mice fail to thrive and die early. Histiocytic infiltrations were observed in many tissues, as well as lung inflammation, liver fibrosis, muscular disease manifestations and mild kidney injury. Our new mouse model mirrors human FD and thus offers further insights into the pathogenesis of this disease. In the future, it may also facilitate the development of urgently needed therapies.
KW  - acid ceramidase
KW  - ceramide
KW  - Farber disease
KW  - lysosomal storage disorders
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1515/hsz-2018-0170
SN  - 1431-6730
SN  - 1437-4315
VL  - 399
IS  - 10
SP  - 1183
EP  - 1202
PB  - De Gruyter
CY  - Berlin
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Gulbins, Anne
A1  - Schumacher, Fabian
A1  - Becker, Katrin Anne
A1  - Wilker, Barbara
A1  - Soddemann, Matthias
A1  - Boldrin, Francesco
A1  - Müller, Christian P.
A1  - Edwards, Michael J.
A1  - Goodman, Michael
A1  - Caldwell, Charles C.
A1  - Kleuser, Burkhard
A1  - Kornhuber, Johannes
A1  - Szabo, Ildiko
A1  - Gulbins, Erich
T1  - Antidepressants act by inducing autophagy controlled by sphingomyelin-ceramide
JF  - Molecular psychiatry
N2  - Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common and severe disease characterized by mood changes, somatic alterations, and often suicide. MDD is treated with antidepressants, but the molecular mechanism of their action is unknown. We found that widely used antidepressants such as amitriptyline and fluoxetine induce autophagy in hippocampal neurons via the slow accumulation of sphingomyelin in lysosomes and Golgi membranes and of ceramide in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). ER ceramide stimulates phosphatase 2A and thereby the autophagy proteins Ulk, Beclin, Vps34/Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, p62, and Lc3B. Although treatment with amitriptyline or fluoxetine requires at least 12 days to achieve sphingomyelin accumulation and the subsequent biochemical and cellular changes, direct inhibition of sphingomyelin synthases with tricyclodecan-9-yl-xanthogenate (D609) results in rapid (within 3 days) accumulation of ceramide in the ER, activation of autophagy, and reversal of biochemical and behavioral signs of stress-induced MDD. Inhibition of Beclin blocks the antidepressive effects of amitriptyline and D609 and induces cellular and behavioral changes typical of MDD. These findings identify sphingolipid-controlled autophagy as an important target for antidepressive treatment methods and provide a rationale for the development of novel antidepressants that act within a few days.
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-018-0090-9
SN  - 1359-4184
SN  - 1476-5578
VL  - 23
IS  - 12
SP  - 2324
EP  - 2346
PB  - Nature Publ. Group
CY  - London
ER  -