Introductory Remarks on Chemical Structures of Gangliosides

Abstract

Ever since their discovery by Ernst KLENK, the gangliosides among all glycosphingolipids have received particular attention. Interest in gangliosides was early stimulated by speculations on their possible involvement in specific functions of the brain, where they have been found most highly concentrated. In addition it was learned that gangliosides were stored in certain hereditary disorders affecting the central nervous system. Another finding that seemed to indicate a role of gangliosides in nerve conduction was their specific binding to tetanus toxin. It was in this way that W.E. VAN HEYNINGEN (1959) could explain the fixation of this toxin by brain tissue that much earlier, in 1898, had been described in WASSERMANN’s classical paper “Über eine neue Art Künstlicher Immunität”. Futhermore, many biological properties of sialic acid were recognized, for which gangliosides having this sugar acid as characteristic constituent of their carbohydrate residue, had to be considered as glycolipid carrier. But gangliosides also appeared to be the glycosphingolipids with the most complex chemical structures. Therefore they provided a challenge to the chemist in the determination of their molecular constitution.