Ceramidase inhibition and determination of intracellular ceramide levels in breast cancer cells

Cancer develops in tissues and organs when cells grow uncontrollably. Normally, cells reproduce, grow and die in a certain order. Cancer, however, disrupts this order and the cells continue to multiply uncontrollably. Cancer cells have the ability to spread to other tissues. Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer among women worldwide and in our country. Although chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery and hormonal treatments are important steps in the fight against breast cancer, current treatments are not sufficient and new more effective treatment methods and agents need to be developed. In recent years, the relationship between sphingolipid metabolism and cancer has become an important focus. Especially due to their capacity to regulate control mechanisms in the cellular signal transduction network, sphingolipids are molecules with potential to develop therapeutic strategies for the treatment of cancer and many other diseases. In sphingolipid metabolism, ceramide and sphingosine-1- phosphate are interconvertible molecules. Increasing the amount of ceramide in the cell leads the cell to apoptosis (programmed cell death), while high levels of sphingosine-1-phosphate tend to promote cell survival. In the light of this information, suppression of ceramidase enzyme, which has an important role in the metabolism of ceramide molecule, with ceranib-2 inhibitor and measurement of intracellular ceramide levels using LC-MS/MS method may provide more reliable information for research focusing on sphingolipid metabolism and may make an important contribution to the development of new therapeutic agents.