STRUCTURE DETERMINATION OF THE MAJOR COMPONENT OF THE STARFISH GANGLIOSIDE MOLECULAR-SPECIES LG-2 BY TANDEM MASS-SPECTROMETRY

The biologically active ganglioside molecular species, LG-2, which has been obtained from the starfish Astropecten latespinosus, was complet ely methylated followed by separation using reversed phase HPLC to giv e a methylated major component, LG-2M-5, in the pure state. The cerami de moiety of LG-2M-5 was indicated by the positive ion fast atom bomba rdment tandem mass spectrometry (FABMS/MS) of LG-2M-5. This fact was v erified from the measurements of the positive ion FABMS/MS of the perm ethylates prepared from four known starfish cerebrosides.