A member of the family of glycosphingolipids, monosialoganglioside acts as a receptor and antigen for cholera. GM1 ganglioside, one of the glycosphingolipids widely distributed in all tissues, occurs in highest concentrations in the central nervous system (CNS). It is primarily located in the outer surface of the mammalian cell's plasma membrane and in synaptic membranes of the CNS. GM1 ganglioside modulates a number of cell surface and receptor activities as well as neuronal differentiation and development, protein phosphorylation and synaptic function.