Switching the Sphingolipid Rheostat in the Treatment of Diabetes and Cancer Comorbidity from a Problem to an Advantage

Figure 1

The swinging pendulum. Overexpression of SphK1 activates S1P and favours cell proliferation and survival. S1P overexpression is associated with cancer progression, type 2 diabetes complications such as inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, cardiovascular problems, nephropathy, retinopathy, and neuropathy. Loss of S1P can affect pancreatic β-cell proliferation and is associated with the progression of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Therapeutic intervention involving binding to specific S1P receptors may swing the pendulum in favour of more promising comorbidity treatments. Cer: ceramide, Sph: sphingosine, SphK1: sphingosine kinase 1, S1P: sphingosine-1-phosphate.