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. 1985 Oct;82(20):6779–6782. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.20.6779

Phylogenetic dichotomy of nerve glycosphingolipids.

N Okamura, M Stoskopf, F Hendricks, Y Kishimoto
PMCID: PMC390770  PMID: 3863128

Abstract

Galactocerebrosides and sulfatides are major characteristic components of vertebrate myelin. In contrast, glucocerebroside is the major glycosphingolipid of shrimp nerve. In this study, the concentrations of these glycosphingolipids in the nervous systems of animals from several evolutionary branches were determined by use of high-performance liquid chromatography. In nerves of protostome animals only glucose-containing glycosphingolipids were detected, whereas glycosphingolipids from deuterostomes contained predominantly galactose. Neither the glycolipids containing alpha-hydroxy fatty acids nor sulfate esters of the glycolipids, both of which always accompany galactocerebrosides in deuterostome myelin, were present in protostome nerves. This correlation suggests an evolutionary trend from gluco- to galactocerebrosides, which corresponds with changes in the nervous system from loosely structured membrane-enwrapped axons to multilamellar highly structured myelin.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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