title: Structures of ceramide tetrasaccharides from various sources: uniqueness of rat kidney ceramide tetrasaccharide.
abstract: Methylation analysis of ceramide tetrasaccharide isolated from human erythrocytes gave acetates of 2,3,6-tri-O-methylgalactitol and 2,4,6-tri-O-methylgalactitol in a ratio of 1:1, and about 50% of the galactose was oxidized by periodate. Rat kidney ceramide tetrasaccharide gave, in contrast, a much larger proportion of the acetates of 2,4,6-tri-O-methylgalactitol (ratio 1:0.3), and less than 20% of the galactose was oxidized by periodate. Sequential degradation by beta-N-acetylhexosaminidase, alpha-galactosidase, and beta-galactosidase showed ceramide tetrasaccharides to have identical carbohydrate sequences and anomeric structures. The major part of ceramide trihexoside derived from rat kidney ceramide tetrasaccharide migrated on thin-layer chromatography more slowly than that derived from other ceramide tetrasaccharides. The structure of a major part of rat kidney ceramide tetrasaccharide was thus determined to be GalNAcbeta(1-->3)Galalpha(1-->3)Galbeta(1-->4)Glcbeta(1-->1)Cer, whereas other ceramide tetrasaccharides have Galalpha(1-->4) structure at the penultimate residue.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000032:analysis; D002417:Cattle; D002518:Ceramides / Q000032:analysis* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000032:analysis; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000032:analysis; D000882:Haplorhini; D006736:Horses; D006801:Humans; D006868:Hydrolysis; D007668:Kidney; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008745:Methylation; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D009904:Optical Rotation; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010504:Periodic Acid; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000032:analysis* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D051381:Rats; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared; D013154:Spleen / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates; D002518:Ceramides; D006017:Glycolipids; D011134:Polysaccharides; D010504:Periodic Acid