Galactosylceramides are glycosphingolipids that contain galactose attached to a ceramide containing an N-acyl hydroxy or non-hydroxy fatty acid. They are metabolic precursors to sulfatide , found primarily in nerve tissues, and are the main glycosphingolipids in the central nervous system.
1,2 Galactosylceramides are involved in a multitude of cellular processes including cell agglutination, cellular signaling in glycosynapses, cellular development, and activation of T cells.
1,2,3 They accumulate in globoid cells in the brain of patients with Krabbe disease, a disorder characterized by a deficiency in galactosylcerebrosidase activity.
2 This product contains non-hydroxy galactosylceramides with primarily C24:0 and C24:1 fatty acyl chain lengths.
As this product is derived from a natural source, there may be variations in the sphingoid backbone.
1. Boggs, J.M., Gao, W., Zhao, J., et al. Participation of galactosylceramide and sulfatide in glycosynapses between oligodendrocyte or myelin membranes FEBS Lett. 584(9),1771-1778(2010).
2. Wenger, D.A., Rafi, M.A., and Luzi, P. Krabbe disease: One hundred years from the bedside to the bench to the bedside J. Neurosci. Res. 94(11),982-989(2016).
3. Birkholz, A.M., Howell, A.R., and Kronenberg, M. The α and Ω of galactosylceramides in T cell immune function J. Biol. Chem. 290(25),15365-15370(2015).
