Neuronal membrane dynamics as fine regulator of sphingolipid composition

Sphingolipid metabolism is an intricate network of several interdependent and co-regulated pathways. In addition to the mainstream biosynthetic and catabolic pathways, several processes, even if less important in contributing to the final tissue sphingolipid composition from the quantitative point of view, might become relevant when sphingolipid metabolism is for any reason dysregulated and concur to the onset of neuronal pathologies. The main subcellular sites involved in the mainstream metabolic pathway are represented by the Golgi apparatus (for the biosynthesis) and by the lysosomes (for catabolism). On the other hand, the minor collateral pathways are associated with the plasma membrane and membranes of other organelles, and likely play important roles in the local regulation of membrane dynamics and contribute to maintain a perfect membrane organization functional to the physiology of the cell. In this review, we will consider few aspects of the sphingolipid metabolic pathway depending by the dynamic of the membranes that seems to become relevant in neurodegenerative diseases.