alpha-Gal glycosphingolipids

{
  "id": "MLC-T-ONC-009984",
  "term": "alpha-Gal glycosphingolipids",
  "field": "Oncology and biomedicine",
  "definition": "A preparation of glycosphingolipids (GSL), containing the disaccharide epitope galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose (alpha-Gal), with potential antineoplastic activity. Upon intratumoral injection, alpha-Gal glycosphingolipids may stimulate the immune system to mount complement-mediated cytotoxicity (CMC) and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) responses against alpha-Gal GSL, which may result in tumor cell death; these responses involve natural anti-alpha-Gal immunoglobulins (Igs). As antibodies that occur naturally due to sensitization to alpha-Gal present on symbiotic bacterial flora, anti-alpha-Gal Igs are present in unusually high amounts in human sera. GSL represent a glycolipid subtype containing the amino alcohol sphingosine; tumor-associated GSL antigens contain various oligosaccharide residues.",
  "abbreviation": "GSL alpha-GAL",
  "synonyms": [
    "galactose(alpha1,3,)galactose glycosphingolipids"
  ],
  "references": [
    "National Cancer Institute Thesaurus"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/oncology/alpha-gal-glycosphingolipids/"
}