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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Oct 9.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Investig Drugs. 2009 Oct;10(10):1049–1060.

Figure 1. Ceramide synthesis and metabolism pathways.

Figure 1

Ceramides are generated de novo by the condensation of palmitate-CoA and serine in reactions catalyzed by serine palmitoyltransferases. Ceramides are also formed through the hydrolysis of sphingomyelin by sphingomyelinases, or through the acylation of sphingosine by ceramide synthases. Ceramides can undergo phosphorylation by ceramide kinase. Several steps in these pathways are reversible through the activation of enzymes.