Recent advances in identifying the functions of gangliosides.

The recent development of several new approaches has proven extremely useful in identifying functions for gangliosides, the sialic-acid containing glycosphingolipids. The first is the incorporation of exogenous gangliosides into the plasma membrane of ganglioside-deficient cells. Using this approach, specific gangliosides have been identified as the receptors for certain bacterial toxins and viruses and as important factors in the organization of fibronectin into an extracellular matrix. The second approach has been a ligand blotting technique which allows detection of ganglioside-binding proteins such as toxins and antibodies. Gangliosides are separated by thin-layer chromatography and overlain with the protein of interest. Specific binding of the ligand to gangliosides can then be detected by either direct or indirect methods. The third approach is the use of the B or binding subunit of cholera toxin as a specific probe for endogenous plasma membrane ganglioside function. The ability of the B subunit to alter the growth of cells directly demonstrates a role for gangliosides as biotransducers of signals for the regulation of cell growth.