Submitted on July 10, 2006
Revised on October 3, 2006
Accepted on October 4, 2006
Isolation and characterization of a novel uronic acid-containing acidic glycosphingolipid from the ascidian, Halocynthia roretzi
Masahiro Ito, Yuki Matsumuro, So Yamada, Tomonori Kitamura, Saki Itonori, and Mutsumi Sugita
College of Information Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu, Shiga 525-8577
Corresponding Author: maito{at}is.ritsumei.ac.jp
A novel uronic acid-containing tri-glycosphingolipid (UGL-1) was isolated from the ascidian Halocynthia roretzi. The UGL-1 was prepared from chloroform/methanol extracts and purified by the use of successive column chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex, Florisil and Iatrobeads. Chemical structural analysis was performed using methylation analysis, gas chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and 1H-NMR spectra. The chemical structure of UGL-1 was determined to be a glucuronic acid-containing glycosphingolipid, Gal1-4(Fuc1-3)GlcA1-1Cer. The ceramide component was composed of C16:0, C18:0 acids and C16-, C17- and C18-phytosphingosines as major components.