Sphingosine is a compound with a long unsaturated hydrocarbon chain, which forms a primary part of sphingolipids, a class of cell membrane lipids that include sphingomyelin, an important phospholipid. Sphingosine can be phosphorylated in vivo via two kinases, sphingosine kinase type 1 and sphingosine kinase type 2.

Sphingolipid metabolites, such as ceramide, sphingosine and sphingosine-1-phosphate, are lipid second messengers involved in diverse cellular processeses.

Synthesis

Sphingosine is synthesized from palmitoyl CoA and serine in a condensation required to yield dehydrosphingosine. Dehydrosphingosine is then reduced by NADPH to dihydrosphingosine, and finally oxidized by FAD to sphingosine.

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Biochemicals

Sphingosin | Sphingosine