6533b838fe1ef96bd12a5261
RESEARCH PRODUCT
The longevity assurance homologue of yeast lag1 (Lass) gene family (Review)
Andreas TeufelNasir MalikThorsten MaassPeter R. Gallesubject
GeneticsCeramideMolecular Sequence DataMembrane ProteinsGeneral MedicineBiologyCeramidesModels BiologicalSphingolipidStructure-Activity Relationshipchemistry.chemical_compoundProtein structurechemistryNeoplasmsSphingosine N-AcyltransferaseGeneticsAnimalsHumansGene familyAmino Acid SequenceOxidoreductasesHox geneCeramide synthaseGeneFunction (biology)description
The Lass gene family contains a group of highly conserved genes that are found in eukaryotic species. The founding member, lag1, was discovered in a screen for yeast longevity genes. Subsequently, lag1 homologs were discovered in other organisms including six mammalian paralogs. All Lass genes encode a highly conserved Lag1 domain and many also have an additional Hox domain. Lass proteins are ceramide synthases and therefore are critical for ceramide biosynthesis. Ceramide synthase is also a critical enzyme in the sphingolipid biosynthetic pathway. As ceramide and sphingolipids are key intermediates in diverse cellular processes such as cell growth, apoptosis, and stress response and may also play a role in cancer development, the function of Lass proteins is of great interest. In this review, we summarize the state of knowledge regarding Lass protein structure, biological function, and their emerging role in cancer development.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-01-17 | International Journal of Molecular Medicine |