TY  - JOUR
A1  - Becam, Jérôme
A1  - Walter, Tim
A1  - Burgert, Anne
A1  - Schlegel, Jan
A1  - Sauer, Markus
A1  - Seibel, Jürgen
A1  - Schubert-Unkmeir, Alexandra
T1  - Antibacterial activity of ceramide and ceramide analogs against pathogenic Neisseria
JF  - Scientific Reports
N2  - Certain fatty acids and sphingoid bases found at mucosal surfaces are known to have antibacterial activity and are thought to play a more direct role in innate immunity against bacterial infections. Herein, we analysed the antibacterial activity of sphingolipids, including the sphingoid base sphingosine as well as short-chain C\(_{6}\) and long-chain C\(_{16}\)-ceramides and azido-functionalized ceramide analogs against pathogenic Neisseriae. Determination of the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) demonstrated that short-chain ceramides and a ω-azido-functionalized C\(_{6}\)-ceramide were active against Neisseria meningitidis and N. gonorrhoeae, whereas they were inactive against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Kinetic assays showed that killing of N. meningitidis occurred within 2 h with ω–azido-C\(_{6}\)-ceramide at 1 X the MIC. Of note, at a bactericidal concentration, ω–azido-C\(_{6}\)-ceramide had no significant toxic effect on host cells. Moreover, lipid uptake and localization was studied by flow cytometry and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and revealed a rapid uptake by bacteria within 5 min. CLSM and super-resolution fluorescence imaging by direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy demonstrated homogeneous distribution of ceramide analogs in the bacterial membrane. Taken together, these data demonstrate the potent bactericidal activity of sphingosine and synthetic short-chain ceramide analogs against pathogenic Neisseriae.
KW  - ceramide analogs
KW  - Neisseria
KW  - ceramide
Y1  - 2017
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-159367
VL  - 7
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Eder, Sascha
A1  - Hollmann, Claudia
A1  - Mandasari, Putri
A1  - Wittmann, Pia
A1  - Schumacher, Fabian
A1  - Kleuser, Burkhard
A1  - Fink, Julian
A1  - Seibel, Jürgen
A1  - Schneider-Schaulies, Jürgen
A1  - Stigloher, Christian
A1  - Beyersdorf, Niklas
A1  - Dembski, Sofia
T1  - Synthesis and characterization of ceramide-containing liposomes as membrane models for different T cell subpopulations
JF  - Journal of Functional Biomaterials
N2  - A fine balance of regulatory (T\(_{reg}\)) and conventional CD4\(^+\) T cells (T\(_{conv}\)) is required to prevent harmful immune responses, while at the same time ensuring the development of protective immunity against pathogens. As for many cellular processes, sphingolipid metabolism also crucially modulates the T\(_{reg}\)/T\(_{conv}\) balance. However, our understanding of how sphingolipid metabolism is involved in T cell biology is still evolving and a better characterization of the tools at hand is required to advance the field. Therefore, we established a reductionist liposomal membrane model system to imitate the plasma membrane of mouse T\(_{reg}\) and T\(_{conv}\) with regards to their ceramide content. We found that the capacity of membranes to incorporate externally added azide-functionalized ceramide positively correlated with the ceramide content of the liposomes. Moreover, we studied the impact of the different liposomal preparations on primary mouse splenocytes in vitro. The addition of liposomes to resting, but not activated, splenocytes maintained viability with liposomes containing high amounts of C\(_{16}\)-ceramide being most efficient. Our data thus suggest that differences in ceramide post-incorporation into T\(_{reg}\) and T\(_{conv}\) reflect differences in the ceramide content of cellular membranes.
KW  - liposome
KW  - ceramide
KW  - cell membrane model
Y1  - 2022
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-286130
SN  - 2079-4983
VL  - 13
IS  - 3
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kunz, Tobias C.
A1  - Kozjak-Pavlovic, Vera
T1  - Diverse facets of sphingolipid involvement in bacterial infections
JF  - Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
N2  - Sphingolipids are constituents of the cell membrane that perform various tasks as structural elements and signaling molecules, in addition to regulating many important cellular processes, such as apoptosis and autophagy. In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that sphingolipids and sphingolipid signaling play a vital role in infection processes. In many cases the attachment and uptake of pathogenic bacteria, as well as bacterial development and survival within the host cell depend on sphingolipids. In addition, sphingolipids can serve as antimicrobials, inhibiting bacterial growth and formation of biofilms. This review will give an overview of our current information about these various aspects of sphingolipid involvement in bacterial infections.
KW  - infection
KW  - pathogenic bacteria
KW  - sphingolipids
KW  - ceramide
KW  - autophagy
Y1  - 2019
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-201757
VL  - 7
IS  - 203
ER  -