Inhibition of Sphingolipid Biosynthesis in Cultured Cells Enhances the Oligosaccharide Production from Exogenous Artifical Substrate

The effect of fumonisin B₁ which is an inhibitor of ceramide synthesis on saccharide elongation of dodecyl β-lactoside (Lac-C12), which is the analogue of lactosyl ceramide (LacCer), in mouse melanoma B16 cells and African green-monkey kidney (Vero) cells was examined. By adding fumonisin B₁ in the culture medium used for glycosylation of Lac-C12, mouse melanoma B16 cells synthesized GM3-type analogue twice much as the absence of fumonisin B₁, while the amount of endogenous GM3 remarkably decreased. The addition of fumonisin B₁ to the culture medium of Vero cells also elicited 50% augmentation in the amount of glycosylated Lac-C12. For the enhanced production of oligosaccharide using cell function, fumonisin B₁ acts effectively on cells which produce abundant endogenous glycolipid. The addition of fumonisin B₁ resulted in an increase in production of glycosylated Lac-C12 with decreasing natural ceramide synthesis.