Gangliosides

Gangliosides are acidic glycosphingolipids that contribute a substantial presence to the outer leaflet of the cell plasma membrane. This is especially apparent in neuronal cells of the central nervous system where they have vital roles as neurotransmitters and cellular regulators.¹ They participate in cellular proliferation, differentiation, adhesion, signal transduction, cell-to-cell interactions, tumorigenesis, and metastasis.² Gangliosides have been implicated in numerous types of cancer where they are often over-expressed on the membrane surface.³ A deficiency in the enzymes responsible for metabolizing gangliosides causes toxic levels of ganglioside accumulation which is indicative of several lysosomal storage diseases, including GM₁ gangliosidosis, GM₂ gangliosidosis, Tay-Sachs disease, and Sandhoff disease. Matreya now offers a number of high purity deuterated gangliosides which are ideal for mass spectrometry studies.⁴

References:

1. T. Kolter "Ganglioside Biochemistry" International Scholarly Research Network, Vol. 2012 pp. 1-36, 2012
2. S. Birkle, G. Zeng, L. Gao, R.K. Yu, and J. Aubry "Role of tumor-associated gangliosides in cancer progression" Biochimie, Vol. 85 pp. 455-463, 2003
3. P. Giussani et al., "Sphingolipids: Key Regulators of Apoptosis and Pivotal Players in Cancer Drug Resistance" International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol. 15 pp. 4356-4392, 2014
4. J. Gu, C. Tifft and S. Soldin "Simultaneous quantification of GM₁ and GM₂ gangliosides by isotope dilution tandem mass spectrometry" Clinical Biochemistry, Vol. 41(6) pp. 413-417, 2008