Structures of gangliosides from the body of the starfish Patiria pectinifera

S. Glukhoded, G.P. Smirnova, N. K. Kochetkov

N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow

Abstract: A mixture of two gangliosides containing glucose, galactose, arabinose and N-acetylneuraminic acid was isolated from the starfish Patiria pectinifera after removing hepatopancreas and gonads. On the basis of chemical and spectral data the gangliosides were identified as Araf(α1→3)Galp(β1→4)NeuAc(α2→3)Galp(β1→4)Glcp(β1→1)Cer, one of them having O-methylgroup in the position 8 of the N-acetylneuraminic acid residue. The long-chain bases are C₁₆, C₁₇ and C₁₈ phytosphingosines with both branched and linear chains. The fatty acids are presented mainly with α-hydroxy acids (C₂₂, C₂₃ and C₂₄ α-hydroxy acids prevailing), with a low amount of normal fatty acids. Hence, these gangliosides belong to the same structural type as the gangliosides from hepatopancreas of this starfish species, differing in the number of monosaccharide residues and the presence of normal fatty acids.

Russian Journal of Bioorganic Chemistry 1990, 16 (6):839-846

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