Cited by 539Autophagy in Disease and TherapySphingolipid Metabolism and SignalingCell death mechanisms and regulation

Ceramide targets autophagosomes to mitochondria and induces lethal mitophagy

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Sentelle, R David, Senkal, Can E, Jiang, Wenhui, Ponnusamy, Suriyan, Gencer, Salih, Panneer Selvam, Shanmugam, Ramshesh, Venkat K, Peterson, Yuri K +4 more·2012·Nature Chemical Biology

Abstract

Mechanisms by which autophagy promotes cell survival or death are unclear. We provide evidence that C(18)-pyridinium ceramide treatment or endogenous C(18)-ceramide generation by ceramide synthase 1 (CerS1) expression mediates autophagic cell death, independent of apoptosis in human cancer cells. C(18)-ceramide-induced lethal autophagy was regulated via microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 β-lipidation, forming LC3B-II, and selective targeting of mitochondria by LC3B-II-containing autophagolysosomes (mitophagy) through direct interaction between ceramide and LC3B-II upon Drp1-dependent mitochondrial fission, leading to inhibition of mitochondrial function and oxygen consumption. Accordingly, expression of mutant LC3B with impaired ceramide binding, as predicted by molecular modeling, prevented CerS1-mediated mitochondrial targeting, recovering oxygen consumption. Moreover, knockdown of CerS1 abrogated sodium selenite-induced mitophagy, and stable LC3B knockdown protected against CerS1- and C(18)-ceramide-dependent mitophagy and blocked tumor suppression in vivo. Thus, these data suggest a new receptor function of ceramide for anchoring LC3B-II autophagolysosomes to mitochondrial membranes, defining a key mechanism for the induction of lethal mitophagy.

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  • Localization of CerS1 to the mitochondria and synthesis of ceramide in the outer mitochondrial membrane recruit the autophagic machinery and induce mitophagy by binding autophagosome-associated LC3.

    “The localization of CerS1 to the mitochondria and the synthesis of ceramide in the outer mitochondrial membrane recruit the autophagic machinery and induce mitophagy (15) by binding autophagosome-associated LC3.”

    From Alzheimer's Disease–Associated Amyloid-β Precursor Protein Prevents Aging Stress–Induced Mitophagy and Fumarate Depletion to Improve Antitumor Immunity (2025) · cites this paper as [15]

    The Results sections on CerS1/C18-ceramide–LC3B-II interaction and mitochondrial mitophagy report CerS1-induced ceramide on the mitochondrial outer membrane and indicate that ceramide–LC3B interaction targets autophagic structures to mitochondria. The passages establish localization of the ceramide, not localization of CerS1 itself or the site where ceramide is synthesized; those parts of the claim are unsupported. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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1 retracted

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  1. Shimizu, S. et al. Role of Bcl-2 family proteins in a non-apoptotic programmed cell death dependent on autophagy genes. Nat. Cell Biol. 6, 1221–1228 (2004). · DOI · Paper page

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Authors
Sentelle, R. D., Senkal, C. E., Jiang, W., Ponnusamy, S., Gencer, S., Panneer Selvam, S., Ramshesh, V. K., Peterson, Y. K., Lemasters, J. J., Szulc, Z. M., Bielawski, J., & Ogretmen, B.
Affiliations
Medical University of South Carolina (US)
Venue
Nature Chemical Biology
Published
2012-08-26
Volume
8
Issue
10
Pages
831-838
ISSN
  • 1552-4450 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-4469
OpenAlex
W1981224101
Cited by
539
References
44
Citations by year
2026: 36 · 2025: 44 · 2024: 50 · 2023: 56 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 47 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 48 · 2017: 41 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 2
FWCI
17.96
Type
journal article
Language
en
Update notices
erratum (2012-11-26)
Open access
Locations
  • Nature Chemical Biology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (1c06rr015455-01a1)
  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (P50AA011605, 1-P50-AA11605)
  • National Cancer Institute (CA088932, R01CA088932, CA097165, P30CA138313)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (5P30 DK 34987, P30DK034987)
  • National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (DE-016572, R01DE016572)
  • National Center for Research Resources (C06 RR-015455)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Autophagy in Disease and Therapy
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Sphingolipid Metabolism and Signaling
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Cell death mechanisms and regulation
Keywords
ceramide, mitophagy, autophagy, LC3B-II, LC3B lipidation, CERS1, autophagic cell death, Drp1, mitochondrial fission, autophagolysosomes, mitochondrial targeting, oxygen consumption, sodium selenite, tumor suppression, cancer cells
MeSH terms
Autophagy, Ceramides, Humans, Lipids, Phagosomes, Cell Death, Microscopy, Confocal, Cell Line, Tumor, Mitophagy

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