Inositol phosphoceramide synthase is a regulator of intracellular levels of diacylglycerol and ceramide during the G1 to S transition in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

We recently reported that DAG (diacylglycerol) generated during sphingomyelin synthesis plays an important role in protein kinase C activation and cell proliferation in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells [Cerbon and Lopez-Sanchez (2003) Biochem. J. 373, 917-924]. In yeast cells, IPC (inositol phosphoceramide) synthase catalyses the transfer of phosphoinositol from phosphatidylinositol to ceramide to form IPC and generates DAG. In the present study, we found that, during the G1 to S transition after N2-starvation, there was a significant increase in the synthesis of IPC accompanied by a progressive increase (up to 6-fold) in the level of DAG. The increased DAG levels coincided with decrements in ceramide and sphingoid base levels, conditions that are adequate for the activation of putative protein kinase C required for the G1 to S transition and proliferation of yeast cells. To separate the role of DAG generated during IPC synthesis from that originating from other sources, we utilized beta-chloroalanine and myriocin, inhibitors of serine:palmitoyl-CoA transferase, the first committed step in sphingolipid synthesis, to avoid accumulation of sphingolipid intermediates. When the synthesis of sphingolipids was inhibited, DAG accumulation was significantly decreased and the G1 to S transition was blocked; such blockage was avoided by metabolic complementation with phytosphingosine. The DAG/ceramide ratio was 0.27 and it changed to 2.0 during growth re-initiation, suggesting that the synthesis of phosphosphingolipids could act to switch growth arrest (increased ceramide) to a mitogenic signal (increased DAG), and that this signalling process is preserved in yeast and mammalian cells.