Anti-Galactocerebroside Antibody, clone mGalC Antibody, Alexa Fluor(R) 555 conjugate clone mGalC, from mouse, ALEXA FLUOR(R) 555

Galactocerebroside (GalCer or GalC) is the most frequently found glycosphingolipid in animals. GalCer consist of a ceramide linked to a single galactose residue at the 1-hydroxyl moiety. Cerebrosides are concentrated in nervous tissues where they increase from about 0.02% of the dry weight in human fetal brain to 2% in gray matter and 12% in white matter of adult brain. GalCer is a specific cell-surface antigenic marker for oligodendrocytes and schwann cells. GalCer is the largest single component of the myelin sheath of nerves. GalCer synthesis therefore serves as a measurement of myelin formation or remyelination. Krabbe disease is an autosomal recessive sphingolipidosis caused by deficient activity of the lysosomal hydrolase galactosylceramide beta-galactosidase (GALC). GALC mediates the degradation of GalCer and other terminal beta-Gal-containing sphingolipids, including psychosine (galactosylsphingosine). Increased psychosine levels are believed to lead to widespread destruction of oligodendroglia in the CNS and to subsequent demyelination.