Ceramides Increase Fatty Acid Utilization in Intestinal Progenitors to Enhance Stemness and Increase Tumor Risk.

ABSTRACT:

Background & aims

Cancers of the alimentary tract, including esophageal adenocarcinomas, colorectal cancers, and cancers of the gastric cardia, are common comorbidities of obesity. Prolonged, excessive delivery of macronutrients to the cells lining the gut can increase one's risk for these cancers by inducing imbalances in the rate of intestinal stem cell proliferation vs differentiation, which can produce polyps and other aberrant growths. We investigated whether ceramides, which are sphingolipids that serve as a signal of nutritional excess, alter stem cell behaviors to influence cancer risk.

Methods

We profiled sphingolipids and sphingolipid-synthesizing enzymes in human adenomas and tumors. Thereafter, we manipulated expression of sphingolipid-producing enzymes, includin

SUBMITTER: Li Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10592225 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature