[Phospholipids and glycosphingolipids in cultured skin fibroblasts from healthy donors and patients with systemic...

A comparative study of phospho- and glycosphingolipids of cultured skin fibroblast from healthy donors and from patients with systemic sclerodermia (SSD) was carried out. It was shown that the total phospholipid content in SSD fibroblasts is elevated. No significant changes in the concentration of neutral glycosphingolipids were observed. The ganglioside composition of SSD cell cultures differs significantly from that of healthy donor cells. The concentration of the gangliosides, GM3 and GM1, is decreased; no ganglioside GD1a was found in SSD fibroblasts. The data obtained are suggestive of changes in the properties of fibroblast surface which can be manifested both in the impaired reception of matrix proteins and in the impairment of basic properties of the membrane. These changes are well correlated with the results of previous studies on the AMP cyclase system.