Sphingolipids and their synthetic enzymes are emerging as important mediators in
inflammatory responses and as regulators of immune cell functions. In particular,
sphingosine kinase (SK) and its product sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) have been
extensively implicated in these processes. SK catalyzes the phosphorylation of sphingosine
to S1P and exists as two isoforms, SK1 and SK2. SK1 has been shown to be activated by
cytokines including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin1-β (IL1-β). The …