Ganglioside

**Semantic type:** Biologically Active Substance|Organic Chemical

**Definition:** Sialoglycosphingolipids (synonym: gangliosides) are glycosphingolipids carrying one or more sialic residues. Sialic acid is the generic term for N-acetyl- or N-glycoloylneuraminic acid. Gangliosides are named as N-acetyl- (or N-glycoloyl-)neuraminosyl-(X)osylceramide, where (X) stands for the root name of the neutral oligosaccharide to which the sialosyl residue is attached; found principally in nerve tissue, spleen, and thymus; GM1 accumulates in generalized gangliosidosis; GM2 accumulates in Tay-Sachs disease.

**Synonyms:** - ganglioside