Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Cooperative Behavior of Ganglioside Molecules in Model Systems

  • Published:
Neurochemical Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A concise discussion of the role of different geometrical conformational states in the process of self-assembling of gangliosides is given. The report focuses on the effects of the geometrical variations occurring in the head group region of gangliosides as reflected on the geometrical properties of the whole assembly. Collective phenomena happening at the water interfacial region are found to be coupled to the phase transition of the lipid moiety, that is, to the well-known order-disorder conformational transition involving the hydrophobic tails. The possible biological relevance of the head group bistability is envisaged.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. Tettamanti, G., Sonnino, S., Ghidoni, R., Masserini, M., and Venerando, B. 1985. Chemical and functional properties of gangliosides. Their possible implication in the membrane-mediated transfer of information. Pages 607-633, in Degiorgio, V. and Corti, M. (eds.), Physics of Amphiphiles: Micelles, Vesicles and Microemulsions, North-Holland, Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Corti, M., Degiorgio, V., Ghidoni, R., Sonnino, S., and Tettamanti, G. 1980. Laser-light scattering investigation of the micellar properties of gangliosides. Chem. Phys. Lipids 26:225-238.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Cantù, L., Corti, M., Sonnino, S., and Tettamanti, G. 1986. Light scattering measurements on gangliosides: Dependence of micellar properties on molecular structure and temperature. Chem. Phys. Lipids 41:315-323.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Cantù, L., Corti, M., Acquotti, D., and Sonnino, S. 1993. Aggregation properties of gangliosides: Influence of the primary and secondary structure of the head group., J. Phys. IV 3:57-64.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Sonnino, S., Cantù, L., Corti, M., Acquotti, D., and Venerando, B. 1994. Aggregative properties of gangliosides in solution. Chem. Phys. Lipids 71:21-45.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Boretta, M., Cantu', L., Corti, M., and Del Favero, E. 1997. Cubic phases of gangliosides in water: Possible role of the conformational bistability of the head group. Physica A 236:162-176.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Cantù, L., Corti, M., and Salina, P. 1991. Direct measurements of the formation time of mixed micelles. J. Phys. Chem. 95: 5981-5983.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Cantù, L., Corti, M., Sonnino, S., and Tettamanti, G. 1990. Evidence for spontaneous segregation phenomena in mixed micelles of gangliosides. Chem. Phys. Lipids 55:223-229.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Cantù, L., Corti, M., Musolino, M., and Salina, P. 1990. Spontaneous vesicles formed from a single amphiphile. Europhys. Lett. 13:561-566.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Cantù, L., Corti, M., Del Favero, E., and Raudino, A. 1994. Vesicles as an equilibrium structure of a simple surfactant-water system. J. Phys. II France 4:1585-1604.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Cantù, L., Corti, M., and Del Favero, E. 1997. Self aggregation of glycolipids in water: Vesicle to micelle transition. J. Mol. Liquids 71:151-161.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Cantù, L., Corti, M., Del Favero, E., Dubois, M., and Zemb, Th. 1998. Combined X-ray and neutron scattering experiments for thickness characterisation of ganglioside bilayers. J. Phys. Chem. B 102:5737-5743.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Cantù, L., Corti, M., and Degiorgio, V. 1987. Static and dynamic light scattering study of solutions of strongly interacting ionic micelles. Faraday Discuss. Chem. Soc. 83:287-292.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Lipowsky, R. and Sackmann, E. 1995. Membranes: Their Structure and Conformation. Elsevier, Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Poppe, L., van Halbeek, H., Acquotti, D., and Sonnino, S. 1994. Carbohydrate dynamics at a micellar surface: GD1a head group transformations revealed by NMR spectroscopy. Biophys. J. 66: 1642-1652.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Jones, D. H., Barber, K. R., and Grant, C. W. M. 1996. Minor influence of sialic acid on conformation of a membrane-bound oligosaccharide recognition site. Biochemistry 35:4803-4811.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Brocca, P., Berthault, P., and Sonnino, S. 1998. Conformation of the oligosaccharide chain of GM1 ganglioside in a carbohydrate-enriched surface. Biophys. J. 74:309-318.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Bernardi, A. and Raimondi, L. 1995. Conformational analysis of GM1 oligosaccharide in water solution with a new set of parameters for the NEU5AC moiety. J. Org. Chem. 60:3370-3377.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Park, H. J., Jhon, G. J., Han, S. J., and Kang, Y. K. 1997. Conformational study of asialo-GM1 (GA1) ganglioside. Biopolymers 42:19-35.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Yu-Teh, L., Su-Chen, L., Hasegawa, A., Ishida, H., Kiso, M., Bernardi, A., Brocca, P., Raimondi, L., and Sonnino, S. 1999. Structural basis for the resistance of Tay-Sachs ganglioside GM2 to enzymatic degradation. J. Biol. Chem. 274:10014-10018.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Vasudevan, S. V. and Balaji, P. V. 2001. Dynamics of ganglioside headgroup in lipid environment: Molecular dynamics simulation of GM1 embedded in dodecylphosphocholine micelle. J. Phys. Chem. B 105:7033-7041.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Roy, D. and Mukhopadhyay, C. 2001. GD1a in phospholipid bilayer: A molecular dynamics study. J. Biomol. Struct. Dyn. 18: 639-646.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Nyholm, P. G. and Pascher, I. 1993. Orientation of saccharide chains of glycolipids at the membrane surface. Biochemistry 32:1225-1234.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Cantù, L., Corti, M., Del Favero, E., Muller, E., Raudino, A., and Sonnino, S. 1999. Thermal hysteresis in ganglioside micelles investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and light scattering. Langmuir 15:4975-4980.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Maggio, B., Ariga, T., Sturtevant, J. M., and Yu, R. K. 1985. Thermotropic behavior of glycosphingolipids in aqueous dispersions. Biochemistry 24:1084-1092.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Corti, M., Boretta, M., Cantù, L., Del Favero, E., and Lesieur, P. 1996. Dependence of the form factor of ganglioside micelles on a conformational change with temperature. J. Mol. Struct. 383:91-98.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Cantù, L., Corti, M., Del Favero, E., Digirolamo, E., Sonnino, S., and Tettamanti, G. 1996. Experimental evidence of a temperature-related conformational change of the hydrophilic portion of gangliosides. Chem. Phys. Lipids 79:137-145.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Cantù, L., Corti, M., Del Favero, E., Digirolamo, E., and Raudino, A. 1996. Thermal hysteresis phenomena in micellar solutions of gangliosides. Theory and experiments. J. Phys. II (France) 6:1067-1090.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Cantù, L., Corti, M., Del Favero, E., and Raudino, A. 2000. Phase transition at the surface of mixed micelles of the ganglioside GM1 and dodecylphosphocholine. J. Phys. Condens. Matter 12:321-325.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Ricoul, F., Dubois, M., Belloni, L., Zemb, Th., Andre-Barres, C., and Rico-Lattes, 1998. Phase equilibria and equation of state of a mixed cationic surfactant and a synthetic glycolipid lamellar system. Langmuir 14:2645-2655.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Noro, M. G. and Gelbart, W. M. 1999. Theory of lamellar-lamellar phase transitions in pure and mixed surfactant solutions. J. Chem. Phys. 111:3733-3743.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Cantù, L., Corti, M., Del Favero, E., and Raudino, A. 2000. Tightly packed lipid lamellae with large conformational flexibility in the interfacial region may exhibit multiple periodicity in their repeat distance. A theoretical analysis and X-ray verification. Langmuir 16:8903-8811.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Miklavic, S. J., Chan, D. Y. C., White, L. R., and Healy, T. W. 1994. Double layer forces between heterogeneous charged surfaces. J. Phys. Chem. 98:9022-9032.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Cevc, G., Hauser, M., and Kornyshev, A. A. 1995. Effect of the interfacial structure on the hydration forces between laterally nonuniform surfaces. Langmuir 11:3111-3118.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Raudino, A., Zuccarello, F., and Buemi, G. 1987. Ionotropic lateral phase separation in mixed lipid membranes. A theoretical study. J. Phys. Chem. 91:6252-6257.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Simons, K. and Ikonen, E. 1997. Functional rafts in cell membranes. Nature 387:569-572.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Nagay, H. 1998. Ganglioside research: New trends and reflections. Pure Appl. Chem. 70:533-538.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Lloyd, K. O. and Furukawa, K. 1998. Biosynthesis and functions of gangliosides: Recent advances. Glycon. J. 15:627-636.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Hakomori, S. I., Handa, K., Iwabuchi, K., Yamamura, S., and Prinetti, A. 1998. New insights in glycosphingolipid function: “Glycosilated domain,” a cell surface assembly of glycosphingolipids with signal transducer molecules, involved in cell adhesion coupled with signaling. Glycobiology 8:XI-XVIII.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Masserini, M., Palestini, P., and Pitto, M. 1999. Glycolipid-enriched caveolae-like domains in the nervous system. J. Neurochem. 73:1-11.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Vyas, K., Patel, H., Vyas, A. A., and Schnaar, R. L. 2001. Segregation of gangliosides GM1 and GD3 on cell membrane, isolated membrane rafts and defined supported lipid monolayers. Biol. Chem. 382:241-250.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Vie, V., Van Mau, N., Lesniewska, E., Goudonnet, J. P., Heitz, F., and Le Grimellec, C. 1998. Distribution of ganglioside GM1 between two-component, two-phase phosphatidylcholine monolayers. Langmuir 14:4574-4583.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Reed, R. A. and Shipley, G. G. 1996. Properties of ganglioside GM1 in phosphatidylcholine bilayer membranes. Biophys. J. 70: 1363-1372.

    Google Scholar 

  44. De Luca, F., Cametti, C., Naglieri, A., Bordi, F., Misasi, R., and Sorice, M. 1999. Cluster organization of glycosphingolipid GD1a in lipid bilayer membranes: A dielectric and conductometric study. Langmuir 15:2493-2499.

    Google Scholar 

  45. Lipowsky, R. 1992. Budding of membranes induced by intramembrane domains. J. Phys. II (France) 2:1825-1840.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Dobereiner, H. G., Kas, J., Noppl, D., Sprenger, I., and Sackmann, E. 1993. Budding and fission of vesicles. Biophys. J. 65: 1396-1403.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Aranda-Espinosa, H., Berman, A., Dan, N., Pincus, P., and Safran, S. 1996. Interactions between inclusions embedded in membranes. Biophys. J. 71:648-656.

    Google Scholar 

  48. Alford, D., Ellens, H., and Bentz, J. 1994. Fusion of influenza virus with sialic acid bearing target membranes. Biochemistry 33:1977-1987.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Chimica e Biochimica Medica, I.N.F.M., Univeristà di Milano, LITA via Fratelli Cervi 93, 20090, Segrate, Italy

    Paola Brocca, Laura Cantù, Mario Corti & Elena Del Favero

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Catania, Via Andrea Doria 6, 95125, Catania, Italy

    Antonio Raudino

Authors
  1. Paola Brocca
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Laura Cantù
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mario Corti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Elena Del Favero
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Antonio Raudino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Brocca, P., Cantù, L., Corti, M. et al. Cooperative Behavior of Ganglioside Molecules in Model Systems. Neurochem Res 27, 559–563 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020255529125

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020255529125

Search

Navigation