Acid and alkaline ceramidases of rat tissues.

Ceramidase (N-acylsphingosine deacylase) was measured in rat tissue homogenates with N-[1-14C]oleoyl- and N-[9,10-3H]palmitoyl-sphingosine. Two activities were observed with pH optima of approximately 5 and 8. The activity at pH 8 exceeded that at pH 5 in all tissues and tissue areas examined, and both activities decreased in the following order: kidney greater than brain stem greater than cerebrum greater than cerebellum greater than liver greater than spleen greater than cardiac muscle greater than lung greater than psoas muscle. The distribution of activity is not as tissue specific as that of neutral Mg2+-stimulated sphingomyelinase which is enriched in cells of neural origin and thus suggests a less specialized role for the alkaline ceramidase.