Description
Product Characteristics: Sphingosine Kinase (SphK) catalyzes the phosphorylation of the lipid sphingosine, creating the bioactive lipid sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P). S1P subsequently signals through cell surface G protein-coupled receptors, as well as intracellularly, to modulate cell proliferation, survival, motility and differentiation. SphK is an important signaling enzyme which is activated by diverse agents, including growth factors that signal through receptor tyrosine kinases, agents activating G protein-coupled receptors, and immunoglobulin receptors. Two SphK isotypes, SphK-1 and SphK-2, have been cloned, and both isotypes are ubiquitously expressed. SphK-1 has been shown to mediate cell growth, prevention of apoptosis, and cellular transformation, and is upregulated in a variety of human tumors. In contrast, SphK-2 increases apoptosis, and may be responsible for phosphorylating and activating the immunosuppressive drug FTY720.
Target Information: The protein encoded by this gene catalyzes the phosphorylation of sphingosine to form sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), a lipid mediator with both intra- and extracellular functions. Intracellularly, S1P regulates proliferation and survival, and extracellularly, it is a ligand for cell surface G protein-coupled receptors. This protein, and its product S1P, play a key role in TNF-alpha signaling and the NF-kappa-B activation pathway important in inflammatory, antiapoptotic, and immune processes. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Sep 2011]