Tetra-, structural notation

Figure 12.15 Gangliosides. The prefix mono-, di, tri- or tetra- denotes the number of sialic acid W-acetyl neuraminic acid, NANA) residues present in the molecule. The many different gangliosides have complex structures and for convenience shorthand notations are used. The two commonest were introduced by Svennerholm, who named the parent compound GM1, and Wiegnandt, who named it Ggnti. The latter system gives enough information for the structures to be worked out from the shorthand form once the symbols have been learnt. GalNAc represents N-acetyl galactosamine in the above structure.

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