Gangliosides glycolipid structure

More recently, studies on Campylobacter jejuni have demonstrated how specific bacterial carbohydrate antigens can mimic the fine structure of human cell surface glycolipid structures and elicit autoimmune reactivity. Yuki et al.61 first identified that the lipooligosaccharide (LOS) of C. jejuni mimicked human G(M)1 ganglioside and subsequently extended these studies to demonstrate that specific single amino acid variants of the C. jejuni Cst-II sialyltransferase protein are responsible for the synthesis of LOS variants that in turn, mimic different... 

The data on the structure, biological functions, and metabolism of gangliosides and other glycolipids in mammals have been summarized in a number of reviews.8 10 14 16 18,20,23,30 67"723 qq other hand, despite the fact that a quite considerable body of information has by now been accumulated, as... 

The neuraminidases together with gangliosides have been localized in the nerve ending structures (6, 7 ). Theoretically the sialylation and desialylation cycle may mediate a cyclic reaction at a very important locale in a nerve synaptic structure. This hypothetical involvement of sialic acid metabolism in synaptic transmission has gained support from several studies which have suggested a synaptic localization of the glycosyltransferases (8, 9,10,11) and from proposed theoretical models in which the sialo-glycolipids are considered an important constituent in the functional units of neuronal membranes (12,13,14). 

Holmgren, J. Lonnroth, I. Svennerholm, L. Tissue receptor for cholera exotoxin Postulated structure from studies with GMl-ganglioside and related glycolipids. Infect. Immun.,... 

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