Submitted on February 29, 2008
Revised on March 31, 2008
Accepted on April 1, 2008
Cross-talk at the cross-roads of sphingosine-1-phosphate, growth factors and cytokines signaling
Deborah A. Lebman and Sarah Spiegel
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, VCU School of Medicine, Richmond, VA 23298
Corresponding Author: sspiegel{at}vcu.edu
Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive sphingolipid that mediates a wide array of biologic effects through its interaction with a family five G-protein coupled receptors. Cytokines and growth factors interact with this signaling pathway in a variety of ways including both activation and regulation of the expression of the enzymes that regulate synthesis and degradation of S1P. Not only do many growth factors and cytokines stimulate S1P production leading to transactivation of S1P receptors, ligation of S1P receptors by S1P can also transactivate growth factor tyrosine kinase receptors and stimulate growth factor and cytokine signaling cascades. This review discusses the mechanisms involved in crosstalk between S1P, cytokines, and growth factors and the impact of that crosstalk on cell signaling and cell biology.