Analyses of Distribution and Recognition Function of Glycosphingolipids in Lipid Membranes

Background to This Study Some glycosphingolipids (GSLs) are known as the receptor molecules for lectins, antibodies, viruses, and so on. The carbohydrate recognition of GSLs is carried out in the situation when GSLs are incorporated in biomembranes. Hakomon et al. proposed that GSLs form clusters in biomembranes and perform their specific functions in such clusters (1). However, the mechanisms of such cluster formation have not been proved. Furthermore, there are few studies which have evaluated carbohydrate recognition of clustered GSLs. Thus, the physicochemical approach using a biomembrane model was employed to examine these mechanisms in this study.