Gangliosides as Therapeutic Targets for Neurodegenerative Diseases

Figure 1

Illustration of the summary of ganglioside biosynthetic pathways in the cellular mechanism. Svennerholm’s nomenclature is used for the identification of gangliosides. Gangliosides, containing 0, 1, 2, and 3 sialic acid residues connected to the innermost galactose, are found in the 0, a-, b-, and c-series, respectively. Colored boxes indicate the areas where sphingolipids and gangliosides are produced. GM3S: CMPNeuAc:lactosylceramide alpha-2,3-sialyltransferase; GD3S: ST8alpha-N-acetylneuraminide alpha-2,8-sialyltransferase 1; B4GALNT1: UDP-Gal:betaGlcNAc beta-1,4 N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase 1; B3GALT4: UDP-Gal:betaGlcNAc beta 1,3-galactosyltransferase 4.