title: Fluctuations in levels of various gangliosides in the different tracts of the oviduct of the frog (Rana esculenta) during the reproductive cycle.
abstract: The ganglioside content and pattern have been followed in the different tracts (rectus, convoluted and uterine) of the frog oviduct during the reproductive cycle. The main variations we observed are: a) average higher levels of ganglioside sialic acid in the preovulatory phase, with two peaks in March and April for the convoluted and rectus tract, respectively, and a more homogenous behaviour for the uterine tract; in all three tracts of the oviduct a minimum coincident with the ovulation has been found; b) a balanced presence of sulfolipids and gangliosides in the uterine tract: in fact sulfolipids, whose variations have been determined in a previous work, are higher when gangliosides are lower and vice versa, maintaining nearly constant the total negative charge due to these glycolipids; c) an alternate fluctuation of monosialo- and disialo-gangliosides in the preovulatory phase and a net trend toward the increase of monosialo- and the decrease of disialogangliosides in the postovulatory phase; trisialo-gangliosides are in general less represented and show less marked variations; d) the presence of particular gangliosides in particular moments of the reproductive cycle: Fuc-GM1, a fucosylated ganglioside, is higher than the more represented GM1 during the ovulation, while GD1 alpha, a ganglioside with a sialic acid residue linked to GalNAc, is steadily present in all three tracts after ovulation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica e Biochimica, Scuola Medica, Università di Milano.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giuliani
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Calappi
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baldoni
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bolognani
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vitaioli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005732:Gangliosides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*; D010057:Oviducts / Q000378:metabolism*; D011893:Rana esculenta; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology; D012621:Seasons; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D005732:Gangliosides; C025447:sialogangliosides