We characterized the
gangliosides from cells of eight patients with different forms of acute
leukemia (four lymphoblastic, four nonlymphoblastic) by thin-layer chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography combined with
glycosidase treatment. Our analysis indicated both quantitative and qualitative differences between the
gangliosides of acute
leukemia and those of normal leukocytes: 1, the absolute amount of
ganglioside was decreased in the acute
leukemia cells; 2, in general, acute
leukemias had a more simplified
ganglioside pattern in that they contained a greater proportion of the short-chain
ganglioside, II3NeuAc-LacCer (GM#); 3, all of the acute
leukemia cells contained reduced quantities of the
ganglioside N-acetylneuraminosyl-
lactotriaosylceramide, a compound previously found only in normal leukocytes; and 4, a disialylated
ganglioside, II3(NeuAc)2-LacCer (GD3), which is not found in normal leukocytes, was isolated from the cells of one patient with
acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia. These findings demonstrate important differences between the
gangliosides of acute
leukemia cells and normal leukocytes.