[The role of an evolutionary approach to the study of the structure and function of gangliosides].

A comparative-biochemical study of gangliosides is an effective approach to understanding their structural diversity and functions. Certain new gangliosides which are essential in processes occurring in the nerve and other tissues of vertebrates (tetra- and pentasyalogangliosides, trisyalogangliosides with a short carbon chain and others) were first found when investigating fish and amphibia brain and then in the mammalian nerve tissue. Comparative studies made it possible to characterize a new aspect of the functional role of gangliosides, their adaptation functions. Investigations in the content and composition of gangliosides in representatives of different taxonomic groups of animals are important for a more profound understanding of other functions of these compounds, their role in the processes of the nerve impulse transmission, intercellular interaction, etc. Comparative-immunochemical studies of gangliosides seem to be also promising and timely.