So far, the ceramide transfer protein (CERT), a shorter splice variant of the Goodpasture antigen-binding protein (GPBP), is the only known protein with the ability to shuttle ceramide from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus.
Non-vesicular transport of ceramide requires the ceramide transfer protein (CERT) [ 35].
(E ) Growth ± AmB by ∆sip3 cells overexpressing human LTP domains of MLN64, PCTP and ceramide transfer protein (CERT) (TPI1 promoter).
VAP interacts with both oxysterol-binding protein (OSBP) and ceramide transfer protein (CERT), recruiting them to contact sites between the ER and the Golgi complex (74).
A structural study showed that in addition to ceramides, the START family member ceramide transfer protein (CERT) binds diacylglycerol [ 17], another metabolite that was uncovered here.
The role of VAP in lipid biosynthesis is best understood with its association with ceramide transfer protein (CERT) (Peretti et al., 2008; Perry and Ridgway, 2006).
They include lipid-binding proteins such as the OSBPs and lipid-transport proteins such as the PITPNMs and the ceramide transfer protein (CERT) [ 26].
This phosphorylated lipid is especially important in defining Golgi membrane identity and providing a local signaling platform to which several PI4P-binding proteins are recruited, including the ceramide transfer protein CERT [ 8, 9].
This process is regulated by a complex molecular network including protein kinase D (PKD), which is directly involved in the fission of transport vesicles, and its interaction with the ceramide transfer protein CERT that transports ceramide from the endoplasmic reticulum to the TGN.
Thus, intracellular transport of sphingolipids by transfer proteins like CERT, CPTP, FAPP2, and GLTP, is crucial for their regulatory properties.
