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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Lipid Vesicle-mediated Affinity Chromatography using Magnetic Activated Cell Sorting (LIMACS): a Novel Method to Analyze Protein-lipid Interaction
Published on: April 26, 2011
Ceramide regulates atypical PKCzeta/lambda-mediated cell polarity in primitive ectoderm cells. A novel function of
Kannan Krishnamurthy1, Guanghu Wang, Jeane Silva
1Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, School of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia 30912, USA.
Abstract:
In mammals, the primitive ectoderm is an epithelium of polarized cells that differentiates into all embryonic tissues. Our study shows that in primitive ectoderm cells, the sphingolipid ceramide was elevated and co-distributed with the small GTPase Cdc42 and cortical F-actin at the apicolateral cell membrane. Pharmacological or RNA interference-mediated inhibition of ceramide biosynthesis enhanced apoptosis and impaired primitive ectoderm formation in embryoid bodies differentiated from mouse embryonic stem cells. Primitive ectoderm formation was restored by incubation with ceramide or a ceramide analog. Ceramide depletion prevented plasma membrane translocation of PKCzeta/lambda, its interaction with Cdc42, and phosphorylation of GSK-3beta, a substrate of PKCzeta/lambda. Recombinant PKCzeta formed a complex with the polarity protein Par6 and Cdc42 when bound to ceramide containing lipid vesicles. Our data suggest a novel mechanism by which a ceramide-induced, apicolateral polarity complex with PKCzeta/lambda regulates primitive ectoderm cell polarity and morphogenesis.
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