ACCUMULATION OF ISOGLOBOSIDE AND GANGLIO-N-TETRAOSYL CERAMIDE HAVING BLOOD-GROUP-B DETERMINANT IN THE HEPATOMAS OF FEMALE LEC RATS

We have studied the neutral glycolipid composition of spontaneous hepa tomas in LEC female rats. Neutral lipid fractions were isolated and pu rified by column chromatographies on DEAE-Toyopearl 650(M) and Iatrobe ads. The neutral glycolipid fraction contained 3.2 to 4.4 mu g lipid-b ound glucose (Glc) per mg protein, and consisted of isogloboside (iso- Gb4, 50.8% of total neutral glycolipids) and IV(3)Gal, IV(2)Fuc, GgOse (4)Cer (asialo-BGM1, 13.5%) as the major neutral glycolipids and Gb3 a nd iso-Gb3 (9.2%), GlcCer (7.2%), LacCer (6.1%) as the other species. The structure of iso-Gb4 was elucidated by gas-liquid chromatography ( GLC), permethylation study, liquid secondary ion (LSI) mass spectromet ry, and nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy (NOESY) and that f or asialo-BGM1 by GLC, LSI mass spectrometry, and high-performance thi n-layer chromatography (HPTLC)-overlay method using anti-asialo-BGM1 a ntibody. Isogloboside and asialo-BGM1 which are found in negligible am ounts in normal liver tissues may represent excellent markers for stud ying tumor metastasis and cellular adhesion.