This volume contains the proceedings of the symposium on "Ganglioside Structure, Function and Biomedical Potential" which was held at Parksville, Vancouver Island, B. C. , Canada on July 6-10, 1983. The symposium was organized ao a satellite to the ninth meeting of the International Society for Neurochemistry, held immediately afterward in Vancouver City, B. C. Close to 50 speakers from 9 countries presented papers on a wide range of topics on the ganglioside theme. These encompassed the many aspects of basic research that have evolved over the past half-century, as well as some newer topics relating to the biomedical potential of gangliosides as therapeutic agents. One of the purposes of the meeting was to encourage dialogue between investigators in these seemingly diverse areas in the hope that each would come away with fresh perspective toward his own work. Judging from the many spirited, informed discussions that took place throughout the four day meeting, this goal was achieved. The charm and beauty of Vancouver Island undoubtedly contributed to the congenial atmosphere which quickly developed among the 120 or so participants. Drawn from 13 countries of Europe (East and West), America (North and South), Asia and the Middle East, this gathering reflected the broad geographical scale on which ganglioside research is now conducted. That this field is still in its "logarithmic" stage of growth is indicated by the increasing number of citations appearing each year in the various abstracts (e. g. fig. next page).

The NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "Gangliosides and Modu lation of Neuronal Functions" was held at the University of Stutt gart-Hohenheim, Federal Republic of Germany, on October 20 - 24, 1986. About 70 participants from 10 countries presented papers on a wide range of topics all concerning the ganglioside theme. The content of the workshop consisted of the following chap ters: (1) Fundamentals for research on function of gangliosides; (2) Brain ganglioside metabolism; (3) Cell specific distribution and differentiation-related ex pression of brain gangliosides; (4) Gangliosides and neuronal plasticity; (5) Bio-medical potential of exogenous ganglioside application on neuronal function; and (6) Critical assessments on aspects of ganglioside therapy. The aim of the workshop was to sum up and discuss the present knowledge in the respective fields. Despite intensive research on gangliosides ever since Ernst Klenk discovered them in 1936, the biological function of. these amphiphilic, "sphinx-like" glycosphingo lipids remains elusive. Over the past few years, several thousands of articles on gangliosides have been published demonstrating very special properties of these glycolipids and their possible in volvement in diverse biological phenomena. As far as we know up to the present time, these properties may be due to particular physico-chemical attributes of these compounds, especially in com bination with calcium. The results obtained so far have shed light not only on pos sible functional roles of gangliosides with regard to cellular induction and organization, but have also unexpectedly opened up VI a whole new field of therapeutic applications for these compounds.

The volume which is here presented reports all the lectures given at the International Satellite Meeting on Biochemical and Pharmacological Implications of Ganglioside Function held at Cor tona, Tuscany, Italy from 28 to 31 August, 1975. The Meeting was run just before the 5th International Congress of the International Society for Neurochemistry (Barcelona, 2-7 september, 1975) and was in fact organized on its frame. The general subject matter of gangliosides structure, biosyn thesis and degradation, of their functional role in neurochemistry, their pharmacological action and future potentialities, was deeply and throughly taken into consideration during the three-day Sympo sium, which was brilliantly directed and guided by Dr. L. Svenner holm. The meeting gave certainly, in our opinion, a valuable stimu lus to research workers interested in the biophysics, chemistry, biochemistry, physiology and pharmacology of gangliosides. The e ditors wish to express their thanhd to the speakers, the discussants, the Meeting Chairman, the section chairmen and to all the attendants who have taken part at the Symposium and who actively and deeply discussed the delivered lectures. Our final thank is also for Dr. Francesco della Valle, official representative of FIDIA Research Laboratories, Abano Terme, Padua, Italy, to whom we are grateful for his continuous and efficient support. The contribution of the Secretarial Staffs of both the v PREFACE Department of Biochemistry of Perugia University and FIDIA Labora tories to the editorial work is also gratefully acknowledged.

The NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "Gangliosides and Modu lation of Neuronal Functions" was held at the University of Stutt gart-Hohenheim, Federal Republic of Germany, on October 20 - 24, 1986. About 70 participants from 10 countries presented papers on a wide range of topics all concerning the ganglioside theme. The content of the workshop consisted of the following chap ters: (1) Fundamentals for research on function of gangliosides; (2) Brain ganglioside metabolism; (3) Cell specific distribution and differentiation-related ex pression of brain gangliosides; (4) Gangliosides and neuronal plasticity; (5) Bio-medical potential of exogenous ganglioside application on neuronal function; and (6) Critical assessments on aspects of ganglioside therapy. The aim of the workshop was to sum up and discuss the present knowledge in the respective fields. Despite intensive research on gangliosides ever since Ernst Klenk discovered them in 1936, the biological function of. these amphiphilic, "sphinx-like" glycosphingo lipids remains elusive. Over the past few years, several thousands of articles on gangliosides have been published demonstrating very special properties of these glycolipids and their possible in volvement in diverse biological phenomena. As far as we know up to the present time, these properties may be due to particular physico-chemical attributes of these compounds, especially in com bination with calcium. The results obtained so far have shed light not only on pos sible functional roles of gangliosides with regard to cellular induction and organization, but have also unexpectedly opened up VI a whole new field of therapeutic applications for these compounds.

This volume contains the Proceedings of the Meeting "Neuronal plasticity and gangliosides" which was held at Mantova, Italy, on May 29-31, 1985, as a satellite to the Tenth Meeting of the International Society for Neurochemistry, (Riva del Garda, Italy, May 19-24,1985). The Symposium took place in the "Teatro Bibiena", one of the oldest and most beautiful theatres in Italy, known for having been the place for some of the very first performances of W .A. Mozart. The number of registered participants in the Meeting was about 180 including 40 accor:Qpanying persons. The persons invited as Speakers or Chairmen of Colloquia and Workshops were 48. Eighteen countries were represented with the largest contingent coming from Italy, followed by Federal Republic of Germany, The United States, France and Great Britain. The Meeting was based on Colloquia, Workshops, Round Tables and Poster Sessions, with a total of 42 Lectures and 32 Poster presentations.