Labeled gangliosides: their synthesis and use in biological studies

The unveiling of ganglioside metabolism and biological function in the last decades depended on the extensive study of inherited human disease, studies with cultured cells, and specifically designed mouse models. Nonetheless, only few of the accomplishments made so far would have been possible without the use of labeled gangliosides, such as their radiolabeled and/or fluorescent analogs, as well as other modified gangliosides bearing cross-linking, affinity, or paramagnetic groups. Over the years, chemists and biochemists have made tremendous progress toward developing labeled gangliosides for their application in biological systems. These labeled ganglioside probes of the ganglio series have been successfully incorporated in cultured vertebrate cells and in artificial model membranes. In this Review, I provide an overview over the different methods, mostly semisynthetic procedures, to obtain these labeled ganglioside probes that have been used to elucidate the molecular basis of ganglioside-related biology as well as the physicochemical properties of gangliosides.