糖脂和糖蛋白一样是起细胞识别作用的物质。早在1881年Thudichum在“脑的化学组成”一书中就曾把一种结构及功能都不清楚但又认为是十分重要的物质叫做Sphingosine。含有人面狮身(Sphinx)的词头,取其谜的意思。直到本世纪五十年代,美国的Carter才首次鉴定了它的化学结构,确定 Glycolipids, like glycoproteins, are substances that act as cellular recognition. As early as 1881, Thudichum, in his book Chemical Composition of the Brain, once called Sphingosine, a substance whose structure and function are unclear but which are considered to be very important. The word Sphinx contains the meaning of the mystery. Until the fifties of this century, the United States Carter was the first time identified its chemical structure, to determine