Gangliosides 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. Removing the sialic acid from monosialoganglioside GM1 inhibits its ability to bind cholera toxin. Asialo-ganglioside GM1 does not block the binding of cholera toxin to cellular GM1.
