Journal of Biochemistry Advance Access originally published online on September 17, 2007
Journal of Biochemistry 2007 142(4):525-531; doi:10.1093/jb/mvm175
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© 2007 The Japanese Biochemical Society.
Prolactin-dependent Expression of GD1
Ganglioside, as a Component of Milk Fat Globule, in the Murine Mammary Glands*

1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655; and 2Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Kinki University, 3-4-1 Kowakae, Higashiosaka, Osaka 577-8502, Japan
To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +81-6-6721-2332, Fax: +81-6-6723-6721, E-mail: iwamori{at}life.kindai.ac.jp
Received July 10, 2007; Accepted August 7, 2007
| Abstract |
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Lactation-associated expression of GD1
ganglioside in murine mammary glands was found to be due to the increasing specific activities of Gg4Cer
2,3- and GM1b
2,6-sialyltransferases in the glands from 12th day of gestation. The gene for GM1b
2,6-sialyltransferase, mST6GalNAcV, which was not detected in nonpregnant glands, appeared at 12th day of gestation and increased in the following gestational and lactation periods. At 3rd day of lactation, the amounts of lipid-bound sialic acid (LSA) in the mammary glands and milk of HR-1 mice were 99.3 ± 8.5 µg per gram of dried tissue and 2.9 µg per ml, GD1
comprising 64.0% and 80.5% of the total LSA, respectively, and GD1
in milk was found to be preferentially distributed in the fat globule fraction. When the mammary epithelial cells at 15th day of gestation were cultured in prolactin- and epidermal growth factor (EGF)-containing media, the synthesis of fat globules and casein, together with the enhanced synthesis of GD1
, were observed in the cells in prolactin medium, indicating that synthesis of GD1
occurs in association with milk production as a prolactin-dependent event. Thus, GD1
ganglioside, which is characteristically distributed in the cerebellar Purkinje cells of the murine brain, is supplied to neonates through the milk of the mother.
Key Words:
-series ganglioside,
2,6-sialyltransferase, mammary epithelial cells, mST6GalNAcV, primary culture
Abbreviations: FCS, fetal calf serum; PVP, polyvinylpyrrolidone; MFG, milk fat globule; LSA, lipid-bound sialic acid