Solid-phase biosynthesis on high performance thin-layer plates of blood group glycosphingolipids II

A new method for the study of carbohydrate chain biosynthesis of amphipathic glycosphingolipids is presented. The method takes advantage of the thin-layer plate which is used as a solid matrix for precursor glycosphingolipids in biosynthetic experiments after chromatographic development of the precursor sample. The method is shown to be simple, fast and sensitive. It minimizes the risk of adding unwanted exogenous precursors and abolishes the need for tedious purification of products after incubation. The method opens up new possibilities for the biosynthetic study of mixtures of glycosphingolipids.