Birth Defects Research Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology 2012-10-01

Increased sphingoid base-1-phosphates and failure of neural tube closure after exposure to fumonisin or FTY720.

Janee Gelineau-van Waes, Mark A Rainey, Joyce R Maddox, Kenneth A Voss, Andrew J Sachs, Nicole M Gardner, Justin D Wilberding, Ronald T Riley

Index: Birth Defects Res. A Clin. Mol. Teratol. 94(10) , 790-803, (2012)

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Abstract

Fumonisin B(1) (FB(1)) is a mycotoxin produced by a common fungal contaminant of corn. Ingestion of FB(1)-contaminated food is associated with increased risk for neural tube defects (NTDs). FB(1) induces NTDs in inbred LM/Bc mice. FB(1) inhibits ceramide synthase in de novo sphingolipid biosynthesis, resulting in accumulation of sphinganine and sphinganine-1-phosphate (Sa1P). Sa1P functions as a ligand for a family of G protein-coupled S1P receptors.Pregnant SWV and LM/Bc mice were treated with FB(1) (20 mg/kg/day intraperitoneally on embryonic day (ED) 7.5-8.5) or the known S1P receptor agonist FTY720 (10 mg/kg/day oral gavage on ED 6.5-8.5). LC/MS was used to detect sphingoid base-1-phosphates in maternal blood spots, plasma, and embryonic tissue. Strain-specific SWV and LM/Bc mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) and serum free mouse embryo (SFME) neural progenitor cells were treated with FB(1) (40 μM for 24 hr) and LC/MS was used to detect sphingoid base-1-phosphates.FTY720 induced NTDs in both the SWV and the LM/Bc strains of mice. Sphinganine-1-P (Sa1P) and FTY720-P were elevated in the blood spots and plasma of mice treated with FB(1) or FTY720, respectively. FTY720-P was elevated in ED 9.5 exencephalic embryos. Sa1P was elevated in SFME and MEF cells treated with FB(1), and Sa1P was higher in MEFs generated from the FB(1)-NTD-susceptible LM/Bc strain.Elevated sphingoid base-1-P after FB(1) or FTY720 suggest a potential role for these bioactive lipid ligands and activation of S1P receptor signaling pathways in the failure of neural tube closure after FB(1) or FTY720. Sa1P may represent a biomarker for FB(1)-NTD risk assessment.Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.