Potential ganglioside antigens associated with human gliomas

Gangliosides in human gliomas were investigated and found to have an altered composition and concentration as compared to normal grey and white matter of brain. The major gangliosides GM1, GD1a, and GT1b were markedly reduced in the tumour tissue and in contrast there was an increase of gangliosides GM3 and GD3, which often appeared as the dominating ones. Moreover, the tumours contained gangliosides, both mono- and oligosialylated, which could not be detected in the normal brain. The concentration of gangliosides, 0.7 +/- 0.4 mumol sialic acid/g, was significantly lower as compared to normal brain grey (p less than 0.001) and white matter (p less than 0.01), which contained 3.5 +/- 0.3 and 1.2 +/- 0.3 mumol sialic acid/g respectively. The tumour tissue concentration of phospholipids was 14 +/- 8 and of cholesterol 19 +/- 12 mumol/g. The appearance in glioma tissue of gangliosides that are not found in normal brain tissue suggests that these are tumour associated and might serve as surface antigens detectable by specific monoclonal antibodies.