CHANGES IN THE GANGLIOSIDE LONG-CHAIN BASE COMPOSITION OF RAT CEREBELLAR GRANULE CELLS DURING DIFFERENTIATION AND AGING IN CULTURE

Changes in the ganglioside long-chain base (LCB) composition in rat cerebellar granule cells in culture were studied during differentiation and aging. The total native ganglioside mixtures, extracted from the cells maintained in culture up to 22 days, were fractionated by reversed-phase HPLC, each ganglioside homogeneous in the oligosaccharide chain as well as in the LCB being quantified. Two main LCBs were components of the ganglioside species of cultured cells, the C18:1 LCB and the C20:1 LCB. The content of C20:1 ganglioside molecular species was low and quite constant during differentiation, comprising approximately 8% of the total ganglioside species content, the C20:1 LCB appearing to be represented more in the ganglioside of the ''b series'' (GD1b, GT1b, and GQ1b) than in the ''a series'' (GM1 and GD1a). During aging in culture, for 8-22 days, the content of the C20:1 species of all gangliosides increased, being more pronounced for GM1 and GD1a.