Asah1 - N-acylsphingosine amidohydrolase 1

This gene encodes acid ceramidase, an enzyme that plays a central role in ceramide metabolism. The encoded protein undergoes proteolytic processing to generate a heterodimeric enzyme comprised of alpha and beta subunits that catalyzes the hydrolysis of sphingolipid ceramide into sphingosine and free fatty acid. The homozygous disruption of this gene leads to embryonic lethality in mice whereas the heterozygous animals exhibit a progressive lipid storage disease phenotype. [provided by RefSeq, Oct 2015]