Ganglioside mapping of a human medulloblastoma xenograft

The ganglioside patterns of medulloblastomas have never been established; in this study we report the ganglioside profile of the human medulloblastoma cell line TE-671 grown as a xenograft in nude mice. Gangliosides were isolated and structurally analyzed by fast atom bombardment mass spectometry following permethylation. Identification of individual gangliosides was also performed by immunostaining of high-performance thin-layer chromatography-separated bands. Total ganglioside levels of 0.20 mumol/g of tissue were obtained, consistent with those reported for human glioma cell lines grown as xenografts; predominant monosialogangliosides of TE-671 xenografts were II3-alpha-NeuAc-LacCer (GM3) and II3-alpha-NeuAc-GgOse3Cer (GM2) but there were also relatively large proportions of IV3-alpha-NeuAc-LcOse4Cer (3'-isoLM1), IV3-alpha-NeuAc-nLcOse4Cer (3'-LM1) and a further ganglioside of the neolacto-series with an extra lactosamine moiety. The only oligosialoganglioside detected was IV3, II3-alpha-NeuAc2-GgOse4Cer (GD1a).