Gangliotetraosylceramide, (bovine brain)

Gangliosides1 are acidic glycosphingolipids that form lipid rafts in the outer leaflet of the cell plasma membrane, especially in neuronal cells in the central nervous system. They participate in cellular proliferation, differentiation, adhesion, signal transduction, cell-to-cell interactions, tumorigenesis, and metastasis. The accumulation of gangliosides has been linked to several diseases including Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff disease. Asialo gangliosides, which are neutral glycosphingolipids, have the ganglioside structure but without any sialic acids. Asialo GM1 is expressed by natural killer cells and is present on very early thymocytes but is lost as the mature murine T cell protein antigens Thy-1, Lyt-1, and Lyt-2 develop on these cells.2 Anti-asialo GM1 has been shown to eliminate natural killer cells.3 Asialo GM1 is a receptor for a number of bacteria and toxins including Pseudomonas aeruginosa.4 It is being investigated as a tool for evaluating the repopulating ability of transplantable human hematopoietic stem cells.