Stage-specific embryonic antigen 3 (SSEA-3) is a glycosphingolipid, specifically, an oligosaccharide composed of five carbohydrate units connected to a sphingolipid, also known as globoside-5 (Gb5). Sphingolipids were originally discovered in 1884 by Johann Ludwig Wilhelm Thudichum who named them after the Sphinx of Greek mythology in reference to the unresolved riddle of their function. It is now known that sphingolipids function as key players in cell signaling and the SSEA-3 molecule as a whole plays a key role in identifying many types of mammalian cells with pluripotent and stem cell-like characteristics.
References
- Thudichum, John Louis William (1884). A Treatise on the Chemical Constitution of Brain. London: Bailliere, Tindall, and Cox. OCLC 253038666.
- Futerman, AH; Hannun, YA (2004). "The complex life of simple sphingolipids". EMBO Reports. 5 (8): 777–782. doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7400208. PMC 1299119. PMID 15289826.
- Kuroda, Yasumasa; Kitada, Masaaki; Wakao, Shohei; Nishikawa, Kouki; Tanimura, Yukihiro; Makinoshima, Hideki; Goda, Makoto; Akashi, Hideo; Inutsuka, Ayumu (2010-05-11). "Unique multipotent cells in adult human mesenchymal cell populations". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 107 (19): 8639–8643. doi:10.1073/pnas.0911647107. ISSN 1091-6490. PMC 2889306. PMID 20421459.
- Byrne, James (2022-02-16). "A mini-review on stage-specific embryonic antigen 3 (SSEA-3)". eJournal of Cellular Biotechnology (in Italian). 1:eP3.
| Glycoconjugates, lipids, and glycolipids: sphingolipids and glycosphingolipids, and metabolic intermediates | |
|---|---|
| Simple glycosphingolipids | |
| Globosides | |
| Gangliosides | |
| Other | |