Gangliosides: glycosphingolipids essential for normal neural development and function

• Gangliosides are essential for normal neural development.
• In its absence, exogenous GM3 may delay start of infantile-onset symptomatic epilepsy.
• As components of ‘lipid rafts’, gangliosides function in signal transduction.
• Age-related changes in ganglioside composition appear to contribute to dementia.

Lipid rafts, sites of signal transduction, are enriched in glycosphingolipids (GSLs). Gangliosides, a class of GSLs found in greatest concentration in the grey matter of the brain, can affect neuronal function by modulating cell signaling. This review summarizes changes in ganglioside expression during brain development, the specific effects they induce, and makes observations about their possible role(s) in dementing diseases. Given that the average lifespan of individuals in many countries has increased, and that aging is accompanied by an increasing probability of dementia, understanding how changes in the GSL composition of lipid rafts may contribute to the cell biological basis of a specific dementing phenotype is an important area of study.