Disease relevance of spH

• Bacillus cereus strain SE-1: nucleotide sequence of the sphingomyelinase C gene [1].
• The smcL gene of Listeria ivanovii encodes a sphingomyelinase C that mediates bacterial escape from the phagocytic vacuole [2].
• The best-known activity of Staphylococcus aureus sphingomyelinase C, alias beta-toxin, is as a hemolysin that provokes hot-cold lysis of erythrocytes which contain substantial amounts of sphingomyelin in the plasma membrane [3].
• Molecular analysis of a sphingomyelinase C gene from Leptospira interrogans serovar hardjo [4].
• Site-directed mutagenesis (His151Ala) that inactivated the sphingomyelinase activity also abolished the insecticidal activity, suggesting that the rapid insect toxicity of sphingomyelinase C results from its phospholipid-degrading activity [5].

High impact information on spH

• The recombinant 57.7-kDa enzyme hydrolyzed sphingomyelin but not phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidic acid, or phosphatidylethanolamine, indicating that the enzyme is a sphingomyelin-specific sphingomyelinase C [6].
• Production of both phosphatidylcholine-preferring phospholipase C and sphingomyelinase C was repressed by Pi in the growth medium, whereas production of phosphatidylinositol phospholipase C was unaffected [7].
• The purified toxin, with a molecular mass of 34 kDa, was identified as sphingomyelinase C (EC 3.1.4.12) on the basis of its N-terminal and internal amino-acid sequences [5].
• The effects of phospholipases C on the equilibrium constants and maximal binding capacities of tritiated [D-Ala2,-D-Leu5] enkephalin to rat brain membranes were investigated using phosphatidylcholine-hydrolyzing phospholipase C and sphingomyelinase C of Bacillus cereus and, phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C of Bacillus thuringiensis [8].
• When the axon was perfused internally with sphingomyelinase C in KF solution, the action potential was decreased to 30% in 3 min [9].

Chemical compound and disease context of spH

• The effects of phospholipases C on the membrane excitability of the squid giant axon were investigated using phosphatidylcholine-hydrolyzing phospholipase C and sphingomyelinase C of Bacillus cereus, and phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C of Bacillus thuringiensis [9].

Biological context of spH

• 1. When complete hydrolysis of glycerophosphlipids and sphingomyelin in the outer membrane leaflet is brought about by treatment of intact red blood cells with phospholipase A2 and sphingomyelinase C, the (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase activity is not affected [10].

Anatomical context of spH

• These results indicate that the pool of sphingomyelin which is not susceptible to attack by sphingomyelinase C (about 15% of total sphingomyelin) may be resistant because of membrane internalisation and not because it originally resides in the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane [11].

References