A class of glycosphingolipid; specifically, a monoglycosylceramide (ceramide monosaccharide), the sugar being attached to the —CHOH— moiety of the sphingoid. Cerebrosides are found in the myelin sheath of nerve tissue; e.g., kerasin, nervon, oxynervon, phrenosin, these names also being used for the fatty acid involved. C. is sometimes prefixed by gluco-, galacto-, etc., in place of the correct glucosylceramide, etc. The sulfate esters of cerebrosides are among the sulfatidates.
- c.-sulfatase, c. sulfatidase an enzyme that cleaves sulfate from a sulfated glycosphingolipid (such as a c. 3-sulfate).
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ce·re·bro·side sə-'rē-brə-.sīd, 'ser-ə-brə- n any of various lipids composed of ceramide and a monosaccharide and found esp. in the myelin sheath of nerves
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n.
one of a group of compounds occurring in the myelin sheaths of nerve fibres. They are glycolipid, containing sphingosine, a fatty acid, and a sugar, usually galactose (in galactocerebrosides) or glucose (in glucocerebrosides).
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cer·e·bro·side (sə-reґbro-sīd″) a sphingolipid in which the head group linked to ceramide is either of the monosaccharides glucose or galactose. Cerebrosides are abundant in cell membranes of brain and nervous tissue, especially the myelin sheath, but are also found in other tissues. See also glucocerebroside and galactocerebroside.Medical dictionary. 2011.