Abstract

Asthma is defined as a chronic inflammatory condition in the lung and is characterized by episodic shortness of breath with expiratory wheezing and cough. Asthma is a serious public health concern globally with an estimated incidence over 300 million. Asthma is a complex disease in that it manifests as disease of gene and environmental interactions. Sphingolipids are a unique class of lipids involved in a host of biological functions ranging from serving as key cellular membrane lipids to acting as critical signaling molecules. To date sphingolipids have been studied across various human conditions ranging from neurological disorders to cancer to infection to autoimmunity. This review will focus on the role of sphingolipids in asthma development and pathology with particular focus on the role of mast cell sphingolipid biology.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)74-81
Number of pages8
JournalAdvances in Biological Regulation
Volume70
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Author

Keywords

  • Asthma
  • Mast cell
  • Sphingolipid

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Medicine
  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics
  • Cancer Research

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