For many years, CerS activity was assayed using radioactive substrates [either 3 H-Sph ( 7 ) or 14 C-labeled acyl-CoAs ( 20 )], with separation of the substrate and products performed by TLC. Recently, a fl uorescent Sph analog has become available, (7-nitro-2-1,3-benzoxadiazol-4-yl) (2 S ,3 R )-2-aminooctadecane-1,3-diol (NBD-Sph), which is a substrate for CerS ( 18,21 ). Clearly, the use of fl uorescent substrates is preferable to use of radioactive substrates as it avoids radiation hazards ( 21 ).We now describe an assay using NBD-Sph, in which the fl uorescent lipid products are separated by solid phase extraction (SPE) C18 chromatography using a 96-well plate. This assay has a number of advantages over other assays, including short assay times, the use of small reaction volumes (20 µl) and small amounts of protein. It alleviates the use of TLC for lipid separation, which often results in degradation of Sph on the TLC plate. We suggest that this assay will permit the rapid assay of CerS activity in large numbers of samples and will prove particularly useful for laboratories that do not have access to facilities available in more lipid-oriented laboratories.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
MaterialsMethanol gradient grade for liquid chromatography, water for chromatography, and silica gel 60 TLC plates were from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany). Formic acid (purity >98%) was from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO). Chloroform for spectrophotometry was from J. T. Baker (Center Valley, PA). Ammonium acetate was from Macron Chemicals (Center Valley, PA). Strata end-capped silica-based C18-E (15 mg/well) 96-well plates and the vacuum manifold for SPE with vacuum gauge and cover mat were from Phenomenex (Torrance, CA). The vacuum pump was an Alcatel 2002 from Ideal Vacuum Products (Albuquerque, NM).Abstract Ceramides are synthesized by six mammalian ceramide synthases (CerSs), each of which uses fatty acylCoAs of different chain lengths for N -acylation of the sphingoid long-chain base. We now describe a rapid and reliable CerS assay that uses a fl uorescent N-[6-[(7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl) (NBD ) sphinganine substrate followed by separation of the NBD-lipid substrate and products using solid phase extraction (SPE) C18 chromatography. SPE chromatography is a quick and reliable alternative to TLC, and moreover, there is no degradation of either NBD-sphinganine or NBD-ceramide. We have optimized the assay for use with minimal amounts of protein in a minimal volume. This assay will prove useful for the analysis of CerS activity, which is of particular importance in light of the growing involvement of CerS in cell regulation and in the pathology of human diseases. ( 1 ), is synthesized by the N -acylation of sphingoid long-chain bases by ceramide synthases (CerSs). Mammals contain six distinct CerSs, with each using a subset of fatty acylCoAs for the N -acylation of sphinganine (Sph) to generate dihydroceramides or of sphingosine to generate ceramides ( 2, 3 ). CerSs have become the focus of great interest due to the realizatio...