They consist of a ceramide with a single sugar residue at the 1-hydroxyl moiety. The sugar residue can be either glucose or galactose; the two major types are therefore called glucocerebrosides and galactocerebrosides. Galactocerebrosides are typically found in neural tissue, while glucocerebrosides are found in other tissues.
Role in disease
A defect in the degradation of glucocerebrosides is Gaucher's disease. The corresponding defect for galactocerebrosides is Krabbe disease.
