Gangliosides of human erythrocytes. A novel ganglioside with a unique N-acetylneuraminosyl-(2 leads to 3)-N-acetylgalactosamine structure.

A novel ganglioside having both N-acetylgalactosamine and N-acetylglucosamine was isolated from human erythrocyte membranes. Its structure was characterized by successive exoglycosidase treatment, methylation analysis, and direct-probe mass spectrometry of permethylated intact and desialylated glycolipid. The core structure of the ganglioside was found to be N-acetylgalactosaminyl paragloboside with sialosyl substitution by 2 leads to 3 linkage at the terminal GalNAc residue: NeuNAc alpha 2 leads to 3 GalNAc beta 1 leads to -3Gal beta 1 leads to 4 GlcNAc beta 1 leads to 3 Gal beta 1 leads to 4Glc leads to Cer. The ganglioside was characterized by the presence of a ceramide with myristic acid as the major component.