CERS5

Ceramide synthase that catalyzes the transfer of the fatty acyl chain from fatty acyl-CoA to a sphingoid base, with high selectivity toward palmitoyl-CoA (hexadecanoyl-CoA; C16:0-CoA). Can use different sphingoid bases as substrates for ceramide synthesis, such as sphinganine in de novo synthesis, and sphing-4E-enine (sphingosine), (4R)-hydroxysphinganine (phytosphingosine) or sphinga-4E,14Z-dienine in salvage pathways. Other fatty acyl-CoAs such as long-chain saturated stearoyl-CoA (octadecanoyl-CoA; C18:0-CoA), myristoyl-CoA (tetradecanoyl-CoA; C14:0-CoA), and monounsaturated oleoyl-CoA (9Z-octadecenoyl-CoA; C18:1-CoA) can also act as acyl donors, but with less efficiency than hexadecanoyl-CoA (By similarity). Plays a role in de novo ceramide synthesis and surfactant homeostasis in pulmonary epithelia (By similarity)..

Function from UniProtKB (Q8N5B7), read 2026-09-23. CC BY 4.0.