Genetic Regulation of GM2(NeuGc) Expression in Liver of Mouse

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Abstract
Remarkable diversity of the carbohydrate structure of glycolipids has been well described and the change in the expression of glycolipids during embryogenesis, differentiation, organogenesis, maturation and malignant transformation is also recognized. During the course of our study, we found that the expression of sulfated glycolipid, Seminolipid, was closely related to spermatogenesis or the differentiation of germinal cells.2,3 We also noticed that the Forssman antigen was detected only in the mesenchymal tissues of small intestine in the adult mouse,4,5 while it was expressed in every cell of the embryo at the stage of the late morulae.6 These phenomena may indicate that the expression of glycolipids is strictly regulated at the level of the gene expression. At present, however, we do not know whether the regulated expression of glycolipids will further trigger various kinds of physiological as well as morphological changes in the tissue, or if these are simply produced by the change in the expression of other inevitable functions.