Journal of Lipid Research · 5 authors, 4 centres
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This preclinical study developed an orally delivered stable isotope of l-serine (13C3, 15N) to quantify ceramide 16:0 synthesis in mouse liver and isolated hepatic mitochondria. Surprisingly, only mitochondrial ceramide content and turnover were altered by short-term high-fat diet feeding, whereas whole-liver ceramide content was not shifted.
C57Bl/6 mice were fed a control diet or high-fat diet (60% of energy) for 2 weeks, after which an oral 13C3, 15N l-serine stable isotope tracer was used to quantify ceramide (CER) 16:0 production within whole liver tissue and isolated hepatic mitochondria. The study aimed to develop and validate this method as a tool for tracking in vivo CER synthesis. The authors note that these findings demonstrate the feasibility of using oral serine isotope labeling to measure hepatic and mitochondrial CER synthetic flux. Limitations include the short 2-week feeding duration, lack of reported serum CER concentrations, and absence of functional assessments pairing CER synthesis with mitochondrial function measures such as respiration rates or apoptosis. The method may be adapted for other tissues, organelles, and CER species.
