title: Turnover in vivo of lactosyl-ceramide and other glycosphingolipids in the adult rat brain.
abstract: The quantitative contribution of glucose to the biosynthesis of lactosyl-ceramide and other glycosphingolipids was studied in the adult rat brain in vivo using a semicompartmental model. Half-lives of glucose carbon in both the total carbon pool and the carbohydrate residue of the lipid were calculated. In all glycolipids the half-life of carbohydrate units was six to eight times shorter than the half-life of carbon in the total carbon pool of the same lipid. This carbohydrate half-life appears to be closely related to the turnover rate of the glycolipid. The shortest carbohydrate half-life (2.2 days) was obtained for lactosyl-ceramide followed by gangliosides, galactosyl-ceramides, and sulphatides. The results indicate that lactosyl-ceramide may serve as a branch point for the biosynthesis of cerebral gangliosides in vivo, rather than occur as a breakdown product of more complex molecules.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002554:Cerebrosides / Q000378:metabolism; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D005732:Gangliosides / Q000378:metabolism; D006028:Glycosphingolipids / Q000378:metabolism*; D006207:Half-Life; D007790:Lactosylceramides / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D002554:Cerebrosides; D005732:Gangliosides; D006028:Glycosphingolipids; D007790:Lactosylceramides