Stimulation of chick retinal ganglioside synthesis by light

Influence of electrical stimulation and deprivation on the electric organ discharge behaviour and metabolism of neuronal gangliosides of the tapirfish (Gnathonemus petersi, Mormyridae, Teleostei)

The influence of electrical stimulation ("attack"-frequency of 40 Hz, 2 V, 2 days) and of social and electrical deprivation on the metabolism of gangliosides of various brain structures and the electric organ of the weakly electric tapirfish (Gnathonemus petersi, Mormyridae) was investigated. After stimulation the daily average discharges of the electric organ increased from 9.4 to 11.1 Hz, whereas after deprivation they decreased to 7.9 Hz as compared with controls. There were significant and structure specific differences in some ganglioside-fractions (GM1, GD3, GD1a, GD1b and GP1) in concentration and in specific radioactive NeuAc-labelling between stimulated and deprived animals respectively, compared with controls.

Gangliosides in various brain areas of three inbred strains of mice

The ganglioside patterns of cerebellum, cortex, pons-medulla, hypothalamus, hippocampus and caudate nucleus of three inbred strains of mice (C57BL/6J, DBA/2J and BALB/cJ) have been analysed. All brain areas contained both the simple and complex species of gangliosides. GD1a was the major ganglioside in cortex, hippocampus and caudate nucleus whereas GT1b was the major species in cerebellum, hypothalamus and pons-medulla. In hippocampus, the percentages of GT1b and GD1a were quite similar. Pons and medulla exhibited the highest levels of GM1 (which approaches the value of GT1b) and the lowest values of GD1a. A ganglioside, which was present in highest amounts in cerebellum disappeared after alkali treatment. Highly significant differences were observed in the amounts and patterns of gangliosides among brain areas of the three strains. Highly significant differences (p less than 0.001) were also found in the ganglioside distribution of various brain areas among the strains, especially for tri- and tetrasialogangliosides between Balb and DBA. A significant difference of GM1 was observed in the cerebellum when comparing DBA with the two other strains. It is likely that the differences might be related to their relative abundances in certain cell types and for defining synaptic circuits in brain areas of some strains.

Brain gangliosides: an improved simple method for their extraction and identification

Total ganglioside extracts prepared from brain tissue were concentrated either by dialysis against Carbowax or by employing Millipore filter cones. Thin-layer chromatography was then carried out using silica gel plates. After location of the various fractions quantitation was effected by direct densitometry. The methods that have been adopted are rapid and suitable for the study of brain gangliosides in post mortem and biopsy material in a clinical chemistry laboratory.