Regulation of glycosphingolipid levels: quantitative modeling of glycosphingolipid homeostasis

人类细胞含有许多脂肪和类脂肪分子。这些脂肪，或称“脂类”，有各种不同的化学结构。根据其化学结构，人类的脂类可以分为几个家族。脂质家族中的一种，GS-脂类，是本研究提案的重点。GS-脂质在许多生物过程中起着重要作用，如大脑和皮肤发育和免疫。无论是过少还是过多的GS-脂质都会导致严重的后果，包括失明、癫痫、男性不育和过早死亡。显然，重要的是我们体内的细胞保持适当的GS-脂质水平。然而，目前我们还不清楚细胞是如何控制其GS-脂水平的。这就是为什么我计划研究这种类型的血脂的调节。我将使用一些不同的方法来确定培养细胞中GS-脂质的产生和降解率。这些研究将为细胞脂家族提供新的见解，这是人类细胞的一种基本生化活动。我的研究可能进一步有助于更好地理解依赖GS-脂质的生物过程。

Human cells contain many fat and fat-like molecules. These fats, or "lipids", have all kinds of different chemical structures. On the basis of their chemical structures, human lipids can be grouped into a number of families. One of the lipid families, GS-lipids, is the focus of this research proposal. GS-lipids have essential roles in many biological processes, such as brain and skin development and immunity. Both too little as well as too much of GS-lipids have dramatic consequences, including blindness, epilepsy, male infertility and early death. Clearly, it is important that the cells in our bodies maintain just the right levels of GS-lipids. At the moment, however, we do not understand how cells manage the levels of their GS-lipids. That is why I plan to investigate the regulation of this type of lipids. I will use a number of different approaches to determine the rates of GS-lipid production and degradation in cultured cells. These studies will provide new insights in the cellular lipid household, which is an essential biochemical activity human cells. My research may further help to better understand the biological processes that are dependent on GS-lipids.