Abstract: Gangliosides are glycosphingolipds containing sialic acid.They have been demonstrated to play important roles in biological functions,such as cell growth,differentiation,malignant transformation, membrane-mediated transfer of information.We have separated several major gangliosides from pig brain and rat brain by capillary electrophoresis (CE).Enhancement of selectivity and efficiency of separation were obtained by using 2.5 mmol/L phosphate buffer containing 15 mmol/L a-cyclodextrin.We also studied the factors which effect on the separation of the samples.The results indicate that the methods of using capillary electrophoresis can successfully separate gangliosides GM₁,GM₃,GD_1a,GD_1b, GT_1b from pig brain and GM₁,GD_1a,GT_1b, from rat brain.

Key words: pig brain, rat brain, gangliosides, capillary electrophoresis