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Biochemical Studies on Sphingolipid of Artemia franciscana (I) Isolation and Characterization of Sphingomyelin
Author(s) -
Kojima Hisao,
Inoue Takashi,
Sugita Mutsumi,
Itonori Saki,
Ito Masahiro
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
lipids
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.601
H-Index - 120
eISSN - 1558-9307
pISSN - 0024-4201
DOI - 10.1007/s11745-010-3438-8
Subject(s) - sphingolipid , sphingomyelin , lipidology , clinical chemistry , isolation (microbiology) , biology , ceramide , biochemistry , zoology , microbiology and biotechnology , cholesterol , apoptosis
Abstract Sphingomyelin was isolated from cysts of the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana using QAE‐Sephadex A25, Florisil and Iatrobeads column chromatographies. The chemical structure was identified using thin‐layer chromatography, gas–liquid chromatography, infrared spectroscopy and matrix‐assisted laser desorption ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry. The ceramide moiety of sphingomyelin consisted of stearic, arachidic, and behenic acids as fatty acids, and hexadeca‐4‐ and heptadeca‐4‐sphingenines as sphingoids. By comparative analysis, the ceramide component of Artemia sphingomyelin appears unique in invertebrates and vertebrates. Biological functions of sphingomyelin have largely been investigated using mammalian‐derived sphingomyelin. In mammals, a wide variety of molecular species of sphingomyelins have been reported, especially derived from nerve tissue, while the lower animal Artemia contains this unusual sphingomyelin perhaps because of having a much simpler nervous system. The purified unusual sphingomyelin derived from Artemia franciscana might be a very useful tool in elucidating the functions and mechanisms of action of this mediator.