Sphingolipids comprise a diverse family of lipids that perform multiple functions in both
structure of cellular membranes and intra-and inter-cellular signaling. The diversity of this
family is generated by an array of enzymes that produce individual classes and molecular
species of family members and enzymes which catabolize those lipids for recycling
pathways. However, all of these lipids begin their lives with a single step, the condensation
of an amino acid, almost always serine, and a fatty acyl-CoA, almost always the 16-carbon …