Application Notes:
As this product is derived from a natural source, there may be variations in the sphingoid backbone.
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.2 They participate in cellular proliferation, differentiation, adhesion, signal
transduction, cell-to-cell interactions, tumorigenesis, and metastasis.3 The accumulation of gangliosides has been linked to
several diseases including Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff disease. An autoimmune response against gangliosides can lead to
Guillain-Barre syndrome. GM4 is a monosialoganglioside located primarily in the central nervous system and was found to
be a major component of myelin gangliosides.4 It was also found to be a specific marker for human myelin and
oligodendroglial perikarya. However, in chicken cerebellum, GM4 is associated with astrocytes, and not with myelin. GM4
has been found to be the major ganglioside in chicken egg yolk, chicken embryonic liver, and frog liver.
References:
1. L. Svennerholm et al. (eds.), “Structure and Function of Gangliosides” New York, Plenum, 1980
2. T. Kolter, R. Proia, K. Sandhoff, “Combinatorial Ganglioside Biosynthesis” J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 277:29, pp. 25859-25862, 2002
3. S. Birkle et al. “Role of tumor-associated gangliosides in cancer progression” Biochimie, Vol. 85 pp. 455–463, 2003
4. Li et al. “Association of GM4 ganglioside with the membrane surrounding lipid droplets in shark liver” Journal of Lipid Research, Vol. 43 pp. 1019-1025, 2002