Glycosphingolipids structural relations

Kawai and Ikeda6 found that the fruiting body formation of basidomycete, Schizophyllm commune, could be stimulated by some cerebrosides in its mycelia. They identified one of the active substances as 3. Structurally related but highly unsaturated cytotoxic glycosphingolipid 4 has beer solated from the sea star Ophidiaster opidiamus.7... 

Bjork, S., Breimer, M. E., Hansson, G. C., Karlsson, K.-A., and Leffler, H. (1987). Structures of blood group glycosphingolipids of human small intestine. A relation between the expression of fucolipids of epithelial cells and the ABO, Le and Se phenotype of the donor. /. Biol. Chem. 262, 6758-6765. 

The saccharide structures of the glycosphingolipids do not appear to be closely related to the specific fatty acyl groups present in these lipids and there is no evidence that the saccharide sequence is in any way determined by the aglycone portion of the molecule. To this extent glycolipid synthesis differs from that of glycoproteins, in that nothing equivalent to sequences such as Asn-X-Ser/Thr or other peptide determinants has been identified, or indicated. 

To verify generality of the aforementioned orthogonal system, a branched tetra-saccharide 14, a partial structure of a novel blood-type related glycosphingolipid 13 (Figure 8), was chosen as a target molecule. 

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