protein_function: Catalyzes the phosphorylation of sphingosine to formsphingosine 1-phosphate (SPP), a lipid mediator with both intra-and extracellular functions. Also acts on D-erythro-sphingosineand to a lesser extent sphinganine, but not other lipids, such asD,L-threo-dihydrosphingosine, N,N-dimethylsphingosine,diacylglycerol, ceramide, or phosphatidylinositol..
Sphingosine kinase 1 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the SPHK1 gene. The protein encoded by this gene catalyzes the phosphorylation of sphingosine to form sphingosine-1- phosphate (S1P), a lipid mediator with both intra- and extracellular functions. Intracellularly, S1P regulates proliferation and survival, and extracellularly, it is a ligand for cell surface G protein-coupled receptors. This protein, and its product S1P, play a key role in TNF-alpha signaling and the NF-kappa-B activation pathway important in inflammatory, antiapoptotic, and immune processes. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene.