Characterization of serine palmitoyltransferase in normal human tissues

Sphingolipids serve as structural elements of cells and as lipid second messengers. They regulate cellular homeostasis, mitogenesis, and apoptosis. Sphingolipid signaling may also be important in various pathophysiologies such as vascular injury, inflammation, and cancer. Serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) catalyzes the condensation of serine with palmitoyl-CoA, the first, rate-limiting step in de novo sphingolipid biosynthesis. This integral microsomal membrane protein consists of at least two subunits, SPT1 and SPT2. In this study we analyzed the expression of SPT1 and SPT2 in normal human tissues. Strong SPT1 and SPT2 expression was observed in pyramidal neurons in the brain, in colon epithelium, and in mucosal macrophages. However, SPT2 expression was more prominent than SPT1 in the colon mucosal macrophages, the adrenomedullary chromaffin cells and endothelium, and in the uterine endothelium. SPT2 was localized in both nuclei and cytoplasm of the adrenomedullary chromaffin cells, whereas SPT1 was primarily cytoplasmic. These observations link enhanced SPT expression to proliferating cells, such as the lung, stomach, intestinal epithelium, and renal proximal tubular epithelium, and to potentially activated cells such as neurons, chromaffin cells, and mucosal macrophages. A baseline expression of SPT, established by this study, may serve as a measure for aberrant expression in various disease states.