Renal Contributions to Age-Related Changes in Mineral Metabolism.

Aging results in a general decline in function in most systems. This is particularly true with respect to the skeleton and renal systems, impacting mineral homeostasis. Calcium and phosphate regulation requires tight coordination among the intestine, bone, parathyroid gland, and kidney.

Novel function of ceramide for regulation of mitochondrial ATP release in astrocytes.

We reported that amyloid β peptide (Aβ) activated neutral SMase 2 (nSMase2), thereby increasing the concentration of the sphingolipid ceramide in astrocytes. Here, we show that Aβ induced mitochondrial fragmentation in wild-type astrocytes, but not in nSMase2-deficient cells or astrocytes treated with fumonisin B1 (FB1), an inhibitor of ceramide synthases. Unexpectedly, ceramide depletion was concurrent with rapid movements of mitochondria, indicating an unknown function of ceramide for mitochondria.