Behavior of gangliosides on dialysis.

Mixed brain gangliosides or individual ganglioside GM1 were dissolved in one of the following solvents: (a) water, (b) 0.1 M aqueous KC1, or (c) methanol-aqueous 0.1 M KC1 at concentrations ranging from 10(-8) to 10(-3) M, and were submitted to dialysis against distilled water for up to 4 days. No significant loss of gangliosides on dialysis was observed when gangliosides were dissolved in water or 0.1 M aqueous KC1, but a loss occurred when the ganglioside solution contained methanol; the loss was greater at the lowest ganglioside concentration. However, losses ceased to occur after 1 day when methanol was removed from the dialysis sac.