Monoclonal Antibodies Against Glycosphingolipids (GSLs)-Gangliosides

Free GSL molecules are poorly immunogenic using conventional immunization procedures (1,2). Although immunogenicity has been increased by immunizing with purified glycolipids coated onto the surface of Salmonella minnesota organisms (3,4), this has not always been successful (5). Theoretically, one can take advantage of GSLs absorbed on silica as occurs in thin-layer chromatography (t. l. c.) separation (6), and then to use the silica-absorbed GSL spots scraped from the plate as immunogen. This proposition is based on the principle that aggregation and/or presentation on solid surfaces often leads to increased immune responses (7), and is supported by the demonstration that silica enhanced the response to poorly immunogenic proteins in an in vitro system (8).