Occurrence, Structure Elucidation, Biosynthesis, Functions and Synthesis of Sphingadienes

Sphingolipids are important cell membrane components among the phospholipid bilayer. Sphingolipid themselves and breakdown products play a significant role in signal transduction. All sphingolipids have a sphingosine backbone which is a long chain amino alcohol. Structurally, Sphingadienes differ from sphingosines due to the extra unsaturation present in the long aliphatic hydrocarbon chain. Sphingadienes have been isolated from fungi, plants, insects, marine organisms, and humans; mostly as components of sphingolipids. The biosynthesis of sphingadienes takes place due to the action of desaturase on sphingosine. The growing interest on sphingadienes is due to its implication in the biological processes such as apoptosis, cell signaling which has a direct impact on the development of anticancer and anti-inflammatory agents. Recent literature shows the action of sphingadiene on colon cancer cells is based on Akt dependent pathway. Further, a plant derived sphingadiene has shown anti-inflammatory activity by significantly inhibiting tumor necrosis factor α. The recent multigram quantity synthesis will undoubtedly strengthen the research in this area as this naturally occurring minor cell components cannot be harnessed in enough quantities for detailed mechanistic studies on biological effects.