:Galactosylceramide

Image:Galactoceramide.png

A galactosylceramide, or galactocerebroside is a type of cerebroside consisting of a ceramide with a galactose residue at the 1-hydroxyl moiety.

The galactose is cleaved by galactosylceramidase.

Galactosylceramide is a marker for oligodendrocytes in the brain, whether or not they form myelin.{{cite journal | doi = 10.1038/274813a0 | title = Galactocerebroside is a specific cell-surface antigenic marker for oligodendrocytes in culture | journal = Nature | volume = 274 | issue = 5673 | pages = 813–816 | year = 1978 | last1 = Raff | first1 = Martin C. | last2 = Mirsky | first2 = Rhona | last3 = Fields | first3 = K. L. | last4 = Lisak | first4 = Robert P. | last5 = Dorfman | first5 = Susan H. | last6 = Silberberg | first6 = Donald H. | last7 = Gregson | first7 = N. A. | last8 = Leibowitz | first8 = Sidney | last9 = Kennedy | first9 = Mary C. | pmid = 355894 }}{{cite journal | doi = 10.1083/jcb.101.3.1135 | pmid = 3897245 | pmc = 2113740 | title = Galactocerebroside is expressed by non-myelin-forming Schwann cells in situ | journal = The Journal of Cell Biology | volume = 101 | issue = 3 | pages = 1135–1143 | year = 1985 | last1 = Jessen | first1 = K. R. | last2 = Morgan | first2 = L. | last3 = Brammer | first3 = M. | last4 = Mirsky | first4 = R. }}