Glycosphingolipids having blood-group ABH and Lewis specificities

Abstract

1. (1)|All of the glycosphingolipids which carry blood-group ABH Le a and Le b specificities contain high content (10–15%) of fucose in addition to glucosamine, galactose, and glucose. Glycolipids with blood-group A, and A 2 specificites contained N-acetylgalactosamine in addition to the mentioned components. In erythrocyte stromata, the presence of three types of A 1 and two types of B glycolipids were noticed, while one active component (with the slowest migration rate on thin-layer chromatography) was not found in A 2 erythrocytes. 2. (2)| 2.1. (a)|The glycolipid fraction with H and Le b activities was separated from human erythrocytes, while the H-active glycolipid without Le b activity was isolated from pancreas. 2.2. (b)|The Le a-active glycolipid and Le b-active glycolipid were separated from different cases of human adenocarcinoma and from various normal tissues such as pancreas, stomach, liver, spleen and kidney of group O individuals. The yields of these glycolipids from adenocarcinoma tissue and from normal glandular tissues (pancreas and stomach linings) were higher than those from erythrocyte stroma and from parenchymatous organs (spleen, kidney, liver). 3. (3)|Co-presence of both Le a- and Le b-glycolipids in the tissue of some individuals were noticed in glandular tissue and in adenocarcinoma tissue. The patterns of blood-group glycolipid in adenocarcinoma tissue was distinguishable from that of normal glandular tissue by the absence of blood-group A- or B-glycolipid.