Ra. Irvine et Tn. Seyfried, PHYLOGENETIC CONSERVATION OF GANGLIOSIDE GD3 EXPRESSION DURING EARLY VERTEBRATE ONTOGENY, Comparative biochemistry and physiology. B. Comparative biochemistry, 109(4), 1994, pp. 603-612
Gangliosides were investigated in adult brains and in 5-vesicle stage
embryos of representatives belonging to the four vertebrate classes: C
hondrichthyes, Amphibia, Aves and Mammalia. Considerable variability i
n brain ganglioside composition and concentration was observed among t
he adult vertebrates. The ganglioside patterns of the developmentally
matched vertebrate embryos were similar in that each comprised GD3 as
the predominant ganglioside. The phylogenetic conservation of abundant
GD3 expression during early vertebrate ontogeny is interpreted as bio
chemical evidence consistent with van Baer's theory of increasing diff
erentiation and suggests that GD3 is of critical importance for normal
vertebrate development.