Animal glycolipids

Methylation analysis (and its different applications) is one of the most widely used methods in the structural characterization of carbohydrate chains (reviewed in refs, 5-8). In the present article, the progress achieved, and the problems encountered, in the analysis of animal glycolipids and glycoproteins are discussed, although many of the topics also concern the analysis of carbohydrate chains in general. Emphasis is laid on the efforts made to find ways to lessen the amounts of sample needed for the analysis, because only small amounts of glycan samples isolated from biological sources are often available. 

Glycolipids consist of a sugar moiety attached to the glycerol backbone and are abundantly found in some algae, higher plant tissues, and microorganisms, whereas they may be present, if at all, only as trace constituents in animal tissues. 

In about 1936, sialic acid was discovered by Blix, who found it to be a component of submaxillary-gland proteins, and who described many of its properties. However, little notice was taken of this work at the time it was published. In 1941, Klenk, who was working on glycolipids of the brain, described a compound, later shown to be a methyl glycoside of sialic acid, that had been obtained by treatment of a lipid fraction with 5% methanolic hydrogen chloride at 105°. In 1954, Klenk and Faillard reported the first isolation of pure N-acetyl-neuraminic acid from animal sources. 

Research has resulted in major advances in animal modeling of anti-glycolipid antibody-associated neuropathies in vitro and in vivo, which make a strong case that the antibodies cause much of the neurological impairment in these patients [21]. Furthermore, molecular... 

One major pathway leads from acetyl-CoA to the activated fatty acids (acyl-CoA for details, see p.l68). Fats, phospholipids, and glycolipids are synthesized from these, and fatty acid derivatives in particular are formed. Quantitatively, this is the most important pathway in animals and most plants. 

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