Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) functions not only as a bioactive lipid molecule, but also as an important intermediate of the sole sphingolipid-to-glycerolipid metabolic pathway. However, the precise reactions and the enzymes involved in this pathway remain unresolved. We report here that yeast HFD1 and the Sjögren-Larsson syndrome (SLS)-causative mammalian gene ALDH3A2 are responsible for conversion of the S1P degradation product hexadecenal to hexadecenoic acid. The absence of ALDH3A2 in CHO-K1 mutant cells caused abnormal metabolism of S1P/hexadecenal to ether-linked glycerolipids. Moreover, we demonstrate that yeast Faa1 and Faa4 and mammalian ACSL family members are acyl-CoA synthetases involved in the sphingolipid-to-glycerolipid metabolic pathway and that hexadecenoic acid accumulates in Δfaa1 Δfaa4 mutant cells. These results unveil the entire S1P metabolic pathway: S1P is metabolized to glycerolipids via hexadecenal, hexadecenoic acid, hexadecenoyl-CoA, and palmitoyl-CoA. From our results we propose a possibility that accumulation of the S1P metabolite hexadecenal contributes to the pathogenesis of SLS.

The long-chain base phytosphingosine is a component of sphingolipids and exists in yeast, plants and some mammalian tissues. Phytosphingosine is unique in that it possesses an additional hydroxyl group compared with other long-chain bases. However, its metabolism is unknown. Here we show that phytosphingosine is metabolized to odd-numbered fatty acids and is incorporated into glycerophospholipids both in yeast and mammalian cells. Disruption of the yeast gene encoding long-chain base 1-phosphate lyase, which catalyzes the committed step in the metabolism of phytosphingosine to glycerophospholipids, causes an B40% reduction in the level of phosphatidylcholines that contain a C15 fatty acid. We also find that 2-hydroxypalmitic acid is an intermediate of the phytosphingosine metabolic pathway. Furthermore, we show that the yeast MPO1 gene, whose product belongs to a large, conserved protein family of unknown function, is involved in phytosphingosine metabolism. Our findings provide insights into fatty acid diversity and identify a pathway by which hydroxyl group-containing lipids are metabolized.

a b s t r a c tVery long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) have a variety of physiological functions and are related to numerous disorders. The key step of VLCFA elongation is catalyzed by members of the elongase family, ELOVLs. Mammals have seven ELOVLs (ELOVL1-7), yet none of them has been purified and analyzed. In the presented study we purified ELOVL7 and measured its activity by reconstituting it into proteoliposomes. Purified ELOVL7 exhibited high activity toward acyl-CoAs with C18 carbon chain length. The calculated K m values toward C18:3(n-3)-CoA and malonyl-CoA were both in the lM range. We also found that progression of the VLCFA cycle enhances ELOVL7 activity.

Short title: Lipid droplet localization of ALDH3B2Summary statement: The mouse aldehyde dehydrogenases ALDH3B2 and ALDH3B3 exhibit similar substrate specificity but distinct intracellular localization (ALDH3B2, lipid droplets; ALDH3B3, plasma membrane). The C-terminal prenylation and two Trp residues are important for the lipid droplet localization of ALDH3B2.2 ABSTRACT Aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDHs) catalyze the conversion of toxic aldehydes to non-toxic carboxylic acids. Of the 21 ALDHs in mice, it is the ALDH3 family members (ALDH3A1, ALDH3A2, ALDH3B1, ALDH3B2, and ALDH3B3) that are responsible for the removal of lipid-derived aldehydes. However, ALDH3B2 and ALDH3B3 have yet to be characterized.Here, we examined the enzyme activity, tissue distribution, and subcellular localization of ALDH3B2 and ALDH3B3. Both were found to exhibit broad substrate preferences from medium-chain to long-chain aldehydes, resembling ALDH3A2 and ALDH3B1. Although ALDH3B2 and ALDH3B3 share extremely high sequence similarity, their localizations differed, with ALDH3B2 found in lipid droplets and ALDH3B3 localized to the plasma membrane. Both ALDH3B2 and ALDH3B3 were modified by prenylation at their C-termini; this modification greatly influenced their membrane localization and enzymatic activity toward hexadecanal. We found that their C-terminal regions, particularly the two Trp residues (Trp462 and Trp469) of ALDH3B2 and the two Arg residues (Arg462 and Arg463) of ALDH3B3, were important for the determination of their specific localization. Abnormal quantity and perhaps quality of lipid droplets are implicated in several metabolic diseases. We speculate that ALDH3B2 acts to remove lipid-derived aldehydes in lipid droplets generated via oxidative stress as a quality control mechanism.

The fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase (FALDH) ALDH3A2 is the causative gene of Sjögren Larsson syndrome (SLS Sjögren-Larsson syndrome (SLS)2 is a hereditary neurocutaneous disorder caused by mutations in the fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase (FALDH) gene, ALDH3A2. The major symptoms of SLS are mental retardation, spastic di-or tetraplegia, and ichthyosis, with crystalline macular dystrophy sometimes comorbid (1). ALDH3A2 catalyzes the conversion of fatty aldehydes with medium-chain (MC) to very-long-chain fatty acids (FA) (MC, C5-C10; long-chain (LC), C11-C20; and very-longchain, ՆC21), with the most preferred substrates being C16 and C18 aldehydes (2, 3). To date, more than 70 mutations have been found in the ALDH3A2 gene of SLS patients, and most of them cause Ͼ90% reduction in enzyme activity (4). Because aldehyde molecules are reactive and toxic in general, it is considered that accumulated fatty aldehydes cause the SLS pathology by reacting with certain important proteins in the nervous system and epidermis and compromising their functions. Furthermore, the literature lacks a detailed description of the characteristics of Aldh3a2 knock-out mice.The skin symptom ichthyosis is characterized by dry, thickened, and scaly skin, often likened to fish scales, and is caused by a skin permeability barrier defect related to multilayered lipids (lipid lamellae) in the epidermis. The epidermis is composed of four cell layers, the stratum basale, stratum spinosum, stratum granulosum, and the stratum corneum, the last of which is the site of these lipid lamellae, and accordingly has the most important role in skin barrier formation (5, 6). Keratinocytes proliferate in the stratum basale and migrate outward, differentiating into cell layer-specific cell types. The major lipid components of lipid lamellae are ceramides, cholesterol, and FAs, with ceramides being the most abundant (5, 6). A variety of ceramide species exist in the epidermis. Among them, acylceramides are a class of epidermis-specific ceramides that play an essential role in skin barrier formation (7,8). Ceramides are normally composed of a long-chain base (LCB) and a FA (9). However, acylceramides contain an additional hydrophobic chain (linoleic acid), which is esterified with the hydroxylated -carbon of the FA. In the epidermis of SLS patients, some ceramide species, including the acylceramide EOS (a combination of an esterified -hydroxy FA and the LCB sphingosine), are greatly reduced (10).Several metabolic pathways generate the substrates of ALDH3A2, fatty aldehydes. These include metabolic pathways of leukotriene B 4 , diet-derived phytol, plasmalogens, and fatty alcohols (11)(12)(13)(14)(15). Furthermore, we recently revealed that metabolism of LCBs also generates fatty aldehydes, i.e. hexadecanal (C16:0 aldehyde) from dihydrosphingosine (DHS) and

NIPAL4 is one of the causative genes for autosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis. However, the role of NIPAL4 in skin barrier formation and the molecular mechanism of ichthyosis pathology caused by NIPAL4 mutations, have not yet been determined. Here, we found that Nipal4-knockout (KO) mice exhibited neonatal lethality due to skin barrier defects. Histological analyses showed several morphological abnormalities in the Nipal4-KO epidermis, including impairment of lipid multilayer structure formation, hyperkeratosis, immature keratohyalin granules, and developed heterochromatin structures. The levels of the skin barrier lipid acylceramide were decreased in Nipal4-KO mice. Expression of genes involved in skin barrier formation normally increases during keratinocyte differentiation, in which chromatin remodeling is involved. However, the induction of Krt1, Lor, Flg, Elovl1, and Dgat2 was impaired in Nipal4-KO mice. NIPAL4 is a putative Mg transporter, and Mg concentration in differentiated keratinocytes of Nipal4-KO mice was indeed lower than that of wild-type mice. Our results suggest that low Mg concentration causes aberration in the proper chromatin remodeling process, which in turn leads to failure of differentiation-dependent gene induction in keratinocytes. Our findings provide insights into Mg-dependent regulation of gene expression and skin barrier formation during keratinocyte differentiation.

The accumulation of reactive aldehydes is implicated in the development of several disorders. Aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDHs) detoxify aldehydes by oxidizing them to the corresponding carboxylic acids. Among the 19 human ALDHs, ALDH3A2 is the only known ALDH that catalyzes the oxidation of long-chain fatty aldehydes including C16 aldehydes (hexadecanal and trans-2-hexadecenal) generated through sphingolipid metabolism. In the present study, we have identified that ALDH3B1 is also active in vitro toward C16 aldehydes and demonstrated that overexpression of ALDH3B1 restores the sphingolipid metabolism in the ALDH3A2-deficient cells. In addition, we have determined that ALDH3B1 is localized in the plasma membrane through its C-terminal dual lipidation (palmitoylation and prenylation) and shown that the prenylation is required particularly for the activity toward hexadecanal. Since knockdown of ALDH3B1 does not cause further impairment of the sphingolipid metabolism in the ALDH3A2-deficient cells, the likely physiological function of ALDH3B1 is to oxidize lipid-derived aldehydes generated in the plasma membrane and not to be involved in the sphingolipid metabolism in the endoplasmic reticulum.

Transport of dietary lipids into small-intestinal epithelial cells is pathologically and nutritionally important. However, lipid uptake remains an almost unexplored research area. Although we know that long-chain bases (LCBs), constituents of sphingolipids, can enter into cells efficiently, the molecular mechanism of LCB uptake is completely unclear. Here, we found that the yeast acyl-CoA synthetases (ACSs) Faa1 and Faa4 are redundantly involved in LCB uptake. In addition to fatty acid-activating activity, transporter activity toward long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) has been suggested for ACSs. Both LCB and LCFA transports were largely impaired in faa1Δ faa4Δ cells. Furthermore, LCB and LCFA uptakes were mutually competitive. However, the energy dependency was different for their transports. Sodium azide/2-deoxy-D-glucose treatment inhibited import of LCFA but not that of LCB. Furthermore, the ATP-AMP motif mutation FAA1 S271A largely impaired the metabolic activity and LCFA uptake, while leaving LCB import unaffected. These results indicate that only LCFA transport requires ATP. Since ACSs do not metabolize LCBs as substrates, Faa1 and Faa4 are likely directly involved in LCB transport. Furthermore, we revealed that ACSs are also involved in LCB transport in mammalian cells. Thus, our findings provide strong support for the hypothesis that ACSs directly transport LCFAs.