Aging stress and ceramide dependent RNA sequencing expression profiling depends on ceramide synthase 6

The bioactive sphingolipid ceramide, generated by ceramide synthase, is an adaptive stress effector induced in response to various stress stimuli such as aging. In fact, ceramide synthase (CerS) was first discovered in yeast as a longevity assurance gene (LAG1), as the reduced ceramide generation consequent to LAG1 deletion increased longevity. There are six homologues of mammalian LAG1/ceramide synthases (CerS1-6) that generate ceramides with different fatty acid chain lengths with distinct functions and hydrophobicity. Ceramide can be metabolized by sphingosine kinase 1 or 2 for the generation of pro-survival sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), which enhances immune cell egress to the blood stream, activating immune function. Ceramide is known to induce mitophagy and cell death. Here we investigated the role of this sphingolipid pathway in immune function, specifically T cell functions, via high throughput expression profiling. Duplicate samples were analyzed from the WT and Ceramide Synthase deficient mouse. The splenic T cells were activated with anti-CD3, anti-CD28 and IL-2 for three days before the RNA was prepared from the activated T cells and RNA sequencing performed.