Development of a Synthetic Strategy for Gangliosides Using the Unique Chemical Structure of Sialic Acid

Gangliosides are the components of lipid rafts involved in several biological events such as signal transduction. The synthesis of structurally well-defined gangliosides is necessary in order to elucidate the formation mechanisms and functions of lipid rafts at the molecular level. However, previous methods to achieve stereocontrol in glycosidic bond formation of sialic acid have shown that it is substrate-dependent. Therefore, the chemical synthesis of gangliosides and their glycans remains a challenging task in carbohydrate chemistry. This review presents the development of a 1,5-lactam synthetic strategy for gangliosides.