| Abstract: | The ceramides, cleavage products of various sphingolipids, including gangliosides and cerebrosides, are in volved in various signal transduction pathways. Many extracellular stresses, such as tumor necrosis factors-α (TNFα) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have been shown to activate sphingomyelinases that release ceramides which inhibit cell growth and induce apoptosis. Because of the importance of ceramides, chemistry and biology of ceramides have been the vital subject of the latest research in recent years. [1～4] |
