N-Acylsphingosine Amidohydrolase 2 (ASAH2)

Ceramidases such as ASAH2, catalyze hydrolysis of the N-acyl linkage of ceramide, a second messenger in a variety of cellular events, to produce sphingosine. Sphingosine exerts both mitogenic and apoptosis-inducing activities, and its phosphorylated form functions as an intra- and intercellular second messenger. The deduced 761-amino acid protein has a calculated molecular mass of 84 kD. It contains a signal peptide, a mitochondrial targeting sequence, 4 transmembrane domains, a myristoylation site, phosphorylation sites, and N-glycosylation sites.ubiquitous expression of a major 3.5-kb transcript, with highest levels in kidney, skeletal muscle, and heart. Minor transcripts of 2.4, 3.1, and 7 kb were expressed in some tissues. Fluorescence-tagged ASAH2 colocalized with a mitochondrial marker in transfected human cell lines.