title: Ethanol attenuation of ganglioside sialylation and neuritogenesis.
abstract: Neurite-producing cultured embryonic chick brain neurons in 96-h culture were exposed chronically to 25 mM ethanol for a 72-h period. Neurital plasma membrane extension was markedly attenuated in the ethanol-exposed neurons as compared with ethanol-free control cultures. The rate of biosynthetic sialylation of gangliosides, which are major structural sialoglycosphingolipid components in the exofacial lipid bilayer of the neurital plasma membrane, decreased to about half that in the alcohol-free neurons. The findings show that ganglioside sialylation in the morphodifferentiating central nervous system neuron is significantly attenuated by chronic exposure to a moderate dose of ethanol. Depression of ganglioside-dependent neuritogenesis may represent a mechanism for development of the central nervous system component of the fetal alcohol syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Alcohol Research Center, University of California, Los Angeles 90024-1759.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosenberg
authors.forename: E P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Noble
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002642:Chick Embryo; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005732:Gangliosides / Q000378:metabolism*; D019158:N-Acetylneuraminic Acid; D016501:Neurites / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012794:Sialic Acids / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005732:Gangliosides; D012794:Sialic Acids; D000431:Ethanol; D019158:N-Acetylneuraminic Acid