Distinct roles for ceramide and glucosylceramide at different stages of neuronal growth

Sphingolipids (SLs) are important structural and regulatory components of neuronal plasma membranes. Previous studies using fumonisin B1, an inhibitor of the synthesis of ceramide, the precursor of all SLs, demonstrated that ceramide synthesis is required to sustain axonal growth in hippocampal neurons (; ) and dendritic growth in cerebellar Purkinje cells (). We now show that ceramide plays distinct roles at different stages of neuronal development. (1) During axon growth, ceramide must be metabolized to glucosylceramide (GlcCer) to sustain growth. Thus, whereas D-erythro-ceramide, which is metabolized to GlcCer, is able to antagonize the disruptive effects of fumonisin B1 on axon growth, L-threo-ceramide, which is not metabolized to GlcCer, is ineffective. (2) The formation of minor processes from lamellipodia can be stimulated by incubation with short-acyl chain analogs of ceramide that are active in ceramide-mediated signaling pathways, or by generation of endogenous ceramide by incubation with sphingomyelinase. However, GlcCer synthesis is not required for this initial stage of neuronal development. (3) During minor process formation and during axon growth, incubation with high concentrations of ceramide or sphingomyelinase, but not dihydroceramide, induces apoptosis. Together, these observations are consistent with the possibility that minor process formation and apoptosis can be regulated by ceramide-dependent signaling pathways and that the decision whether to enter these diametrically opposed pathways depends on intracellular ceramide concentrations. In contrast, axonal growth requires the synthesis of GlcCer from ceramide, perhaps to support an intracellular transport pathway.