Hydration of N-palmitoylgalactosylsphingosine compared to monosaccharide hydration.

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies of the ice-water transition of N-palmitoylgalactosylsphingosine (NPGS) (cerebroside)/water mixtures indicate 4 +/- 1 non-freezable water molecules per molecule NPGS. This hydration level, representing strongly bound water, is identical to that observed previously for human glucocerebroside (Bach, D., Sela, B. and Miller, I.R. (1982) Chem. Phys. Lipids 31, 381). Comparison of gluco- and galacto-cerebroside hydration with hydration measurements on simple monosaccharides suggests a favored orientation of the glycosyl polar group at the cerebroside-water interface.