Circular dichroism spectra of aqueous dispersions of sphingolipids

The circular dichroism (CD) spectra of a number of sphingolipids dispersed in water have been studied. The lipids include cerebrosides such as palmitoyl cerebroside, glucocerebroside from the spleen of Gaucher patients, bovine brain galactocerebrosides type I and type II, (BCI and BCII, respectively) and also sphingomyelins such as egg sphingomyelin and bovine brain sphingomyelin. Changes in the CD spectra of the lipids which occur upon heating and cooling and the effects of cholesterol, phosphatidylcholine and the opiate leucine enkephalin were studied.