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TISSUE AND DEVELOPMENTAL SPECIFICITY OF A POLYSIALO‐GANGLIOSIDE SPECIES IN THE AMPHIBIAN XENOPUS
Author(s) -
BERNARDINI GIOVANNI,
RIZZO ANGELA M.,
GORNATI ROSALBA,
ROSSI FEDERICA,
BERRA BRUNO
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
cell biology international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.932
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1095-8355
pISSN - 1065-6995
DOI - 10.1006/cbir.1996.0088
Subject(s) - xenopus , ganglioside , spinal cord , biology , amphibian , central nervous system , sialic acid , embryo , ceramide , anatomy , nervous system , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , endocrinology , neuroscience , gene , ecology , apoptosis
Xenopus embryos contain a considerable amount of a polysialo‐ganglioside not yet fully characterized; in this paper, we will refer to it as ganglioside X1. Preliminary experiments indicate asialo‐GM1 as the core structure of the ganglioside X1 and palmitic and oleic acid as the fatty acids of the ceramide moiety. Further analyses by comparative 2D‐TLC with adult fish and chick embryo brains indicate the pentasialilated ganglioside GP1c as the possible structure of X1. In the adult Xenopus , X1 characterizes the ganglioside pattern of the central nervous system while is absent in all the other tested tissues. At least two other more polar (presumably richer in sialic acid) bands are often visible under X1, both in embryos and in brain and spinal cord tissues of adult Xenopus . The persistence of polysialo‐gangliosides in the brain and spinal cord of adult amphibians could serve to guarantee a proper functioning of the central nervous system at low body temperature.