Gangliosides are being actively studied in many laboratories due to their involvement in numerous diseases. One of the most important examples of these diseases is the unusual accumulation of various gangliosides in tumor cells. This has led many researchers to explore ways to combat tumors using gangliosides and antibodies to gangliosides. Lymphoma has been shown to have an increased level of asialo-GM2 and passive immunization with monoclonal immunoglobulin G3 antibodies to asialo-GM2 has effectively suppressed tumor formation in these cells.1 Asialo-GM2 has been identified as a receptor for many types of bacteria including Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Haemophilus influenzae. In the metabolism of asialo-GM2, the same enzyme that synthesizes GD2 and GM2 (beta-1,4 N-Acetylgalactosaminyltransferase) is also responsible for the synthesis asialo-GM2.2
