Gangliosides and antitumor immunity.

To elucidate the possible influence on the host's immune defense of circulating gangliosides released from tumor cells, the effects of exogeneous gangliosides on the activities of some lymphocyte subpopulations were examined. The mono- and disialyllactosylceramides GM3 and GD3, which frequently are present in elevated amounts in sera of tumor-bearing hosts, were found to inhibit strongly the cytotoxicity of natural killer cells, to stimulate T-suppressor activity of peripheral blood lymphocytes, and to inhibit their phytohemagglutinin-induced blast transformation. All these effects may be linked to the ability of gangliosides to modulate the arachidonic acid cascade in lymphoid cells, which for the first time was demonstrated in the course of our studies. Possible mechanisms underlying the immunomodulatory effects of serum gangliosides as well as their role in the escape of tumor cells from immune surveillance and inhibition of the hosts immune system are discussed.