Sulfatide are endogenous sulfoglycolipids with various biological activities in the central and peripheral nervous systems, pancreas, and immune system.1 They are produced from the combination of ceramide and UDP-galactose in the endoplasmic reticulum followed by sulfation in the Golgi apparatus. The ceramide portion contains variable fatty acid chain lengths, which are tissue- and pathology-dependent. Sulfatide are primarily found in the myelin sheath of oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells, with smaller chain lengths predominant during development and longer chain lengths predominant in mature cells.2 They accumulate in the lysosome of patients with metachromatic leukodystrophy, a disorder characterized by arylsulfatase A deficiency.3,1 Sulfatide are also located in pancreatic β-cells and inhibit insulin release from isolated rat pancreatic islet cells, suggesting a potential role in diabetes.4 Sulfatides can induce inflammation in glia in vitro and certain sulfatides, such as C24:1 3'-sulfo-galactosylceramide, can induce an immune response in vitro in mouse splenocytes.5,6 This product contains sulfatide molecular species with primarily C24:1 fatty acyl chain lengths. As this product is derived from a natural source, there may be variations in the sphingoid backbone. [Matreya, LLC. Catalog No. 1049]
1.Takahashi, T., and Suzuki, T.Role of sulfatide in normal and pathological cells and tissuesJ. Lipid Res.53(8)1437-1450(2012) 2.Svennerholm, L., and StÄllberg-Stenhagen, S.Changes in the fatty acid composition of cerebrosides and sulfatides of human nervous tissue with ageJ. Lipid Res.9(2)215-225(1968) 3.Saville, J.T., Smith, N.J.C., Fletcher, J.M., et al.Quantification of plasma sulfatides by mass spectrometry: Utility for metachromatic leukodystrophyAnal. Chim. Acta95579-85(2017) 4.Buschard, K., HØy, M., Bokvist, K., et al.Sulfatide controls insulin secretion by modulation of ATP-sensitive K+-channel activity and Ca2+-dependent exocytosis in rat pancreatic β-cellsDiabetes51(8)2514-2521(2002) 5.Jeon, S.-B., Yoon, H.J., Park, S.-H., et al.Sulfatide, a major lipid component of myelin sheath, activates inflammatory responses as an endogenous stimulator in brain-resident immune cellsJ. Immunol.181(11)8077-8087(2008) 6.Zajonc, D.M., Maricic, I., Wu, D., et al.Structural basis for CD1d presentation of a sulfatide derived from myelin and its implications for autoimmunityJ. Exp. Med.202(11)1517-1526(2005)