Partial purification and characterization of sphingosine N-acyltransferase (ceramide synthase) from bovine liver mitochondrion-rich fraction.

Sphingosine N-acyltransferase (ceramide synthase, E.C. 2.3.1.24) was solubilized from bovine liver mitochondrion-rich fraction with n-octyl beta-D-thioglucoside as the detergent and partially purified by sequential chromatography on columns of DE-32, shingosine affinity, and Sepharose CL-6B. The partially purified preparation migrated on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis as two major protein bands of 62 and 72 kDa. The molecular mass of the enzyme estimated by gel filtration was 240-260 kDa, suggesting that the partially purified enzyme is present in a subunit form or simply has an aggregative nature. The specific activity of the final preparation for the condensation of sphingosine with stearoyl-CoA increased by 98.7-fold compared with the starting material. The optimal pH value for the ceramide synthesis was 7.5. The partially purified enzyme had an apparent Km of 146 microM and a Vmax of 11.1 nmol/min/mg protein for stearoyl-CoA. The Km and Vmax values toward sphingosine were 171 microM and 11.3 nmol/min/mg protein, respectively. Interestingly, sphinganine was also a good substrate for this enzyme, and the Km and Vmax values were 144 microM and 8.5 nmol/min/mg protein, respectively.