Globoside oligosaccharides

Elicityl offers a range of Globoside and globo-like oligosaccharides: The P blood group antigens, the stage specific embryonic antigens (also known as SSEA), the Forssman antigens and the core type 4.

Globoside oligosaccharides owe their name to their discovery as a globular precipitate (1). They are complex sphingolipids composed of a ceramide linked by an ether bond to an oligosaccharide containing as structural feature a Galα1-4Gal (galabiose-like) linkage. Globosides can be found as a major component of human erythrocyte and their involvement as been observed in recognition phenomenon and cell differentiation. Some of these antigens form the P blood group system. They are also involved in several disease where they act as receptors for bacterial toxins like in E. coli where they are recognized by Shiga-like toxin. Moreover,some of them are known as tumor-associated antigen where their concentration rise as cancer appears.

References:

(1) Hakomori S. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2008, 3, 325–346.