Antigenic properties of a synthetic protein complex with glycolipids and related substances

Erythro-sphingosine was obtained from sphingomyelin by alkaline hydrolysis. N-p-nitrobenzoyl-sphingosine, N-p-aminobenzoyl-dihydrosphingosine and dihydrosphingosine-protein were synthesized. It was found that dihydrosphingosine-protein can produce a specific antibody which can be detected by the complement fixation test and by Ouchterlony's double diffusion method in agar. The determining factor of dihydrosphingosine may be due to the hydroxy groups at C₁ and C₃. In the course of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, the cross-reactivity of rabbit antisera against spinal cord, and with psychosine-protein in particular, was observed by the complement fixation test and by the Arthus reaction. Presented at the Prof. Ernst Klenk Symposium on Glycolipids and the Nervous System, AOCS Meeting, Houston, April 1965.