engleski

Changes in the Distribution of Major Brain Gangliosides During Vertebrate Evolution

Gangliosides are plasma membrane components with ceramide anchor and different number of sialic acid residues linked to inner or/and outer galactose of sugar core chain. Major forms appearing predominantly in nervous tissue are: GM1, GD1a, GD1b and GT1b. They are ten times more abundant in CNS of higher animals then in any extra-neuronal tissue. The exact physiological and neurobiological role of each form is still unknown, but there is significant evidence that they participate in neurogenesis, brain development and maturation, synapse formation, memory, communication and adhesion of cells and signal transduction. Gangliosides bind to physiological receptors (GD1a and GT1b are ligands for MAG in process of myelination) as well as external biotoxins. Aiming to understand the evolution of functional roles of gangliosides, we have studied the distribution of the major brain gangliosides (GM1, GD1a, GD1b, GT1b) in brains of trout, carp, green frog, long-nosed viper, chicken, bat, rat, ferret, rabbit and cat. Highly specific monoclonal antibodies were used to detect ganglioside patterns in paraformaldehyde-fixed brains.

gangliozidi; evolution; vertebrates

Rad je kao poster prezentiran i na skupu Joint Meeting of the Society for Glycobiology and the Japanese Society of Carbohydrate Research (US/JAPAN GLYCO 2004), održanom od 17.–20.11.2004., Honolulu, Hawaii ; objavljen u knjizi sažetaka.