Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, KY 40536, USA. bobd@uky.edu <bobd@uky.edu>
In this issue of Cell Metabolism, Aronova et al. (2008) show that target of rapamycin complex 2 (TORC2) controls de novo ceramide synthesis in yeast by regulating the activity of ceramide synthase. This work may provide insight into how chemotherapeutic drugs increase de novo ceramide synthesis and promote cell death in humans.