Sphingolipids are a unique class of lipids owing to their non-glycerol-containing backbone, ceramide, that is constructed from a long-chain aliphatic amino alcohol, sphinganine, to which a fatty acid is attached via an amide bond. Ceramide plays a star role in the initiation of apoptosis by virtue of its interactions with mitochondria, a control point for a downstream array of signaling cascades culminating in apoptosis. Many pathways converge on mitochondria to elicit mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP), a step that corrupts bioenergetic service. Although much is known regarding ceramides interaction with mitochondria and the ensuing cell signal transduction cascades, how ceramide impacts the elements of mitochondrial bioenergetic function is poorly understood. The objective of this review is to introduce the reader to sphingolipid metabolism, present a snapshot of mitochondrial respiration, elaborate on ceramides convergence on mitochondria and the upstream players that collaborate to elicit MOMP, and introduce a mitochondrial phenotyping platform that can be of utility in dissecting the fine-points of ceramide impact on cellular bioenergetics.

鞘脂是一类独特的脂质，因为它们不含甘油的主链神经酰胺，它由长链脂肪族氨基醇鞘氨醇构成，脂肪酸通过酰胺键连接到鞘脂上。神经酰胺通过与线粒体的相互作用在细胞凋亡的启动中发挥重要作用，线粒体是下游信号级联阵列的控制点，最终导致细胞凋亡。许多途径汇聚在线粒体上以引发线粒体外膜透化 (MOMP)，这是破坏生物能量服务的一个步骤。尽管关于神经酰胺与线粒体的相互作用以及随后的细胞信号转导级联了解很多，但人们对神经酰胺如何影响线粒体生物能量功能的元素知之甚少。