ASAH2

ASAH2

A gene on chromosome 10q11.23 that encodes an amidohydrolase which hydrolyses ceramide into sphingosine and free fatty acid, acting as a key regulator of sphingolipid-signalling metabolites by generating sphingosine at the cell surface. It represses apoptosis by reducing C16-ceramide (preventing ceramide-induced apoptosis) and by generating sphingosine, a precursor of the antiapoptotic factor sphingosine 1-phosphate.