Globosides

Globosides (Gb₄) are the most abundant neutral glycolipid in the erythrocyte membrane, accumulating in lipid rafts of the cell wall. They increase cell adhesion and are involved in cell communication. Additionally, globosides are a receptors for multiple toxins including P-fimbriated Escherichia coli, human parvovirus B19,¹ and pierisin-1 toxin from the cabbage butterfly.² Globosides are an essential structure of the blood group P-antigen. A deficiency in this antigen leads to anti-globoside antibodies and the P blood group phenotypes. In Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff disease, globosides can accumulate due to a deficiency of the beta-hexosaminidase enzyme.³

References:

1. Boel Lanne et al “Glycoconjugate Receptors for P-fimbriated Escherichia coli in the Mouse an Animal Model of Urinary Tract Infection” The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 270 pp. 9017, 1995
2. Yuko Matsushima-Hibiya “Identification of Glycosphingolipid Receptors for Pierisin-1, a Guanine-specific ADP-ribosylating Toxin from the Cabbage Butterfly” The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 278 pp. 9972, 2003
3. R. A. Gravel, M. M. Kaback, R. Proia, K. Sandhoff, K. Suzuki, and K. Suzuki. in The Metabolic and Molecular Bases of Inherited Disease (C. R. Scriver, W. S. Sly, B. Childs, A. L. Beaudet, D. Valle, K. W. Kinzler, and B. Vogelstein, eds) pp. 3827–3876, McGraw-Hill Inc., New York, 2001