Developmental profiles of gangliosides in mouse and rat cerebral cortex.

Developmental profiles of 11 gangliosides, concentration of lipid- and glycoprotein-bound sialic acid, and activity of AChE of the rat and mouse cerebral cortex were followed from the 7th day of gestation to the 21st postnatal day.There are three main changes in ganglioside concentration, which are similar in both species. The first occurs from gestation day 10 until birth: parallel to decreased proliferation, cell migration, and neuroblast differentiation, GM3 and GD3 in mouse cortex and GD3 in the rat's decreases in favor of GQ1b, GT1b, and GD1a.The second occurs from birth until the first postnatal week: Parallel to increased growth and arborization of dendrites and axons as well as synaptogenesis in rats and mice, there is a two-fold rise of GD1a, whereas GQ1b and GT1b remain on a nearly constant level. Concomitantly, GM3 and GD3 decreases. The third period of ganglioside changes starts in the second postnatal week, parallel to onset of myelination, and is characterized by an increase of GM1 in parallel with a decrease of the polysialogangliosides GT1b and GQ1b.