Comparative studies on chemical, hemolytic and diffusion-in-gel precipitation properties of various lysosphingolipids

Various lysosphingolipids were prepared and their chemical structures were confirmed by thin layer chromatography, infrared spectroscopy, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy and chemical analyses of sugars, aminosugars, fatty acids and long chain bases by gas-liquid chromatography. Some hemolytic and diffusion-in-gel precipitation properties of these substances were compared with each other. Almost all of deacylated sphingolipids had approximately the same hemolytic activity. These hemolytic activities were inhibited with equal amounts of cholesterol. Aqueous solutions of digalactosylglucosylsphingosine, galactosaminyldigalactosylglucosylsphingosine and digalactosaminyldigalactosylglucosylsphingosine gave rise to non-immune precipitation lines with normal animal sera, particularly with their low density lipoproteins on agarose gel double diffusion, whereas sphingosylphosphorylcholine and neuraminylgalactosylglucosylsphingosine gave no precipitation lines at all. High concentration of lactosylsphingosine, galactosylsphingosine and glucosylsphingosine, respectively, gave rise to a slightly faint precipitation line.