Definition of "ganglioside" [ganglioside]

• Any of a group of galactose-containing cerebrosides found in the surface membranes of nerve cells. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Tay-Sachs is a fatal condition in which harmful amounts of liquid fatty substances called ganglioside GM2 are built up in tissue and nerve cells."
• "The study suggests that the substance, Gm1 ganglioside, may stabilize injured neurons and may stimulate production of dopamine, the substance lacking in patients with Parkinson's."
• "Pre-clinical pharmacology studies suggest that MORAb-028 binds to GD2, a cell surface ganglioside that is expressed on cells associated with carcinoma and a subset of other cancer types."