Characteristic constituents of glycolipids from frog brain and sciatic nerve.

Cerebroside, sulfatide, monoglycosyl glyceride, and ester cerebroside were isolated from frog brain and sciatic nerve, and their distribution and chemical constituents were determined. The long-chain base compositions of cerebroside, sulfatide, and ester cerebroside were unique in the presence of branched-base components (5-15% of the total bases) and in the abundance of saturated dihydroxy base components (15-45% of the total). The amount of branched long-chain bases was greater in sciatic nerve than in brain. The hexose composition of the glycolipids consisted entirely of galactose except for brain cerebroside, in which a small amount of glucose was detected. Monogalactosyl glyceride consisted of the diacyl and alkylacyl forms, in a molar ratio of 81:19 for brain and 62:38 for sciatic nerve. The fatty acid composition of glycosphingolipids was characterized by the predominance of hydroxy and nonhydroxy 24:1 acids, and the concentration of 24:0 was extremely low. The proportion of unsaturated fatty acids accounted for 80% of the total. Major fatty acids of monogalactosyl glyceride were palmitic, oleic, stearic, and palmitoleic acids; the highest concentration was that of palmitic acid. Ester cerebroside was separated into three subfractions mainly on the basis of the proportion of hydroxy and nonhydroxy components in the amide-linked fatty acids.