Okamura N, Stoskopf M, Hendricks F, Kishimoto Y
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Oct;82(20):6779-82. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.20.6779.
Galactocerebrosides and sulfatides are major characteristic components of vertebrate myelin. In contrast, glucocerebroside is the major glycosphingolipid of shrimp nerve. In this study, the concentrations of these glycosphingolipids in the nervous systems of animals from several evolutionary branches were determined by use of high-performance liquid chromatography. In nerves of protostome animals only glucose-containing glycosphingolipids were detected, whereas glycosphingolipids from deuterostomes contained predominantly galactose. Neither the glycolipids containing alpha-hydroxy fatty acids nor sulfate esters of the glycolipids, both of which always accompany galactocerebrosides in deuterostome myelin, were present in protostome nerves. This correlation suggests an evolutionary trend from gluco- to galactocerebrosides, which corresponds with changes in the nervous system from loosely structured membrane-enwrapped axons to multilamellar highly structured myelin.
半乳糖脑苷脂和硫脂是脊椎动物髓鞘的主要特征性成分。相比之下，葡萄糖脑苷脂是虾神经的主要糖鞘脂。在本研究中，通过高效液相色谱法测定了来自几个进化分支的动物神经系统中这些糖鞘脂的浓度。在原口动物的神经中，仅检测到含葡萄糖的糖鞘脂，而来自后口动物的糖鞘脂主要含有半乳糖。原口动物神经中既不存在含α-羟基脂肪酸的糖脂，也不存在糖脂的硫酸酯，而这两种物质在后口动物髓鞘中总是与半乳糖脑苷脂相伴。这种相关性表明了从葡萄糖脑苷脂到半乳糖脑苷脂的进化趋势，这与神经系统从结构松散的膜包裹轴突到多层高度结构化髓鞘的变化相对应。
