A galactosylceramide, or galactocerebroside is a type of cerebroside consisting of a ceramide with a galactose residue at the 1-hydroxyl moiety.
The galactose is cleaved by galactosylceramidase.
Galactosylceramide is a marker for oligodendrocytes in the brain, whether or not they form myelin.[1][2]
α-Galactosylceramides are immunomodulatory and prevents or reduces autoimmune disorders such as Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, bowel disease.[3] Studies have found α-Galactosylceramides in the large intestines, produced by Bacteriodes, which activate iNKT cells via a CD1 dependent mechanism and plays a role in immune regulation.[4]
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See also
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edit- ↑ Raff, Martin C.; Mirsky, Rhona; Fields, K. L.; Lisak, Robert P.; Dorfman, Susan H.; Silberberg, Donald H.; Gregson, N. A.; Leibowitz, Sidney; Kennedy, Mary C. (1978). "Galactocerebroside is a specific cell-surface antigenic marker for oligodendrocytes in culture". Nature. 274 (5673): 813–816. doi:10.1038/274813a0. PMID 355894.
- ↑ Jessen, K. R.; Morgan, L.; Brammer, M.; Mirsky, R. (1985). "Galactocerebroside is expressed by non-myelin-forming Schwann cells in situ". The Journal of Cell Biology. 101 (3): 1135–1143. doi:10.1083/jcb.101.3.1135. PMC 2113740. PMID 3897245.
- ↑ Kaer, Luc Van (January 2005). "α-Galactosylceramide therapy for autoimmune diseases: prospects and obstacles". Nature Reviews Immunology. 5 (1): 31–42. doi:10.1038/nri1531. ISSN 1474-1741. PMID 15630427.
- ↑ Carr, Rotonya M. (November 2019). "α-Galactosylceramide: a potent immunomodulator produced by gut microbes". Journal of Lipid Research. 60 (11): 1805–1806. doi:10.1194/jlr.C119000437. ISSN 1539-7262. PMC 6824497. PMID 31575643.
External links
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- Galactocerebrosides at the U.S. National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
- CHEMBL110111
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