title: Confirmation of the anomeric structure of galacturonic acid in the galacturonosyl-ceramide of Sphingomonas yanoikuyae.
abstract: The anomeric structure of glycosphingolipids significantly influences their activity to stimulate natural killer T cells. In this study the chemical structure of the galacturonosyl-ceramide in Sphingomonas yanoikuyae, designated GSL-1'sy, was re-examined to prove the anomeric structure of the Dgalacturonic acid (GalA) in the lipid, which was reported as beta-configuration by Naka et al., but was suggested as alpha-configuration in our preliminary study. GSL-1'sy was purified from the bacterial cells with the same procedure as Naka et al. The 1H-NMR analysis of GSL-1'sy revealed that the coupling constant of the anomeric proton of GalA was 3.0 Hz, indicating that GalA in GSL-1'sy is alpha-anomer, the configuration active for the stimulation of natural killer T cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Material and Life Science, College of Engineering, Kanto Gakuin University, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-8501, Japan. kawahara@kanto-gakuin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Kazuyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawahara
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsuge
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Seto
mesh_terms: D006028:Glycosphingolipids / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006603:Hexuronic Acids / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D015394:Molecular Structure; D020578:Sphingomonas / Q000737:chemistry*; D013237:Stereoisomerism
chemical_list: D006028:Glycosphingolipids; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; C007819:galacturonic acid