Lead genetic studies in Dictyostelium discoideum and translational studies in human cells demonstrate that sphingolipids are key regulators of sensitivity to cisplatin and other anticancer drugs.

A Dictyostelium discoideum mutant with a disruption in the sphingosine-1-phosphate (S-1-P) lyase gene was obtained in an unbiased genetic analysis, using random insertional mutagenesis, for mutants with increased resistance to the widely used cancer chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin. This finding opened the way to extensive studies in both D. discoideum and human cells on the role and mechanism of action of the bioactive sphingolipids S-1-P and ceramide in regulating the response to chemotherapeutic drugs. These studies showed that the levels of activities of the sphingolipid metabolizing enzymes S-1-P lyase, sphingosine kinase and ceramide synthase, affect whether a cell dies or lives in the presence of specific drugs. The demonstration that multiple enzymes of this biochemical pathway were involved in regulating drug sensitivity provided new opportunities to test whether pharmacological intervention might increase sensitivity. Thus it is of considerable clinical significance that pharmacological inhibition of sphingosine kinase synergistically sensitizes cells to cisplatin, both in D. discoideum and human cells. Linkage to the p38 MAP kinase and protein kinase C (PKC) signaling pathways has been demonstrated. This work demonstrates the utility of D. discoideum as a lead genetic system to interrogate molecular mechanisms controlling the sensitivity of tumor cells to chemotherapeutic agents and for determining novel ways of increasing efficacy. The D. discoideum system could be easily adapted to a high throughput screen for novel chemotherapeutic agents.