Glucocerebroside
Encyclopedia
Cerebroside
Cerebrosides is the common name for a group of glycosphingolipids called monoglycosylceramides which are important components in animal muscle and nerve cell membranes.They consist of a ceramide with a single sugar residue at the 1-hydroxyl moiety...
s in which the monosaccharide
Monosaccharide
Monosaccharides are the most basic units of biologically important carbohydrates. They are the simplest form of sugar and are usually colorless, water-soluble, crystalline solids. Some monosaccharides have a sweet taste. Examples of monosaccharides include glucose , fructose , galactose, xylose...
head group is glucose
Glucose
Glucose is a simple sugar and an important carbohydrate in biology. Cells use it as the primary source of energy and a metabolic intermediate...
.
Clinical significance
They occur mostly in nonneuronal tissue and accumulate abnormally in Gaucher disease, where glucocerebrosidaseGlucocerebrosidase
β-Glucocerebrosidase is an enzyme with glucosylceramidase activity that is needed to cleave, by hydrolysis, the beta-glucosidic linkage of the chemical glucocerebroside, an intermediate in glycolipid metabolism...
is absent or nonfunctional.