Gangliosides are a large family of glycosphingolipids (GSL) bearing one or more sialic acid residues. They are present on cell surfaces of almost all vertebrate cells and play vital roles in the development and functions of tissues/organs and in diseases. Ganglioside GM3 contains only one sialic acid residue and as the simplest member of the ganglioside family, it is the precursor of all complex gangliosides. More and more evidence supports that ganglioside GM3 is associated with many diseases, including cancers, diabetes, atherosclerosis, pathogenic infections, arthritis, impaired hearing, and wound healing, among others disorders and functions. Other complex gangliosides with one (e.g. GM1 and GM2) or two (e.g. GD3 and GD2) or three (e.g. GT3) sialic acid residues were also found to be correlate with various diseases. Previous studies also imply that some gangliosides and their mimetics can potentially be used as pharmaceutical drugs for treating some diseases.

In the recent years, many scientific advances in the research field of gangliosides have been achieved, and an increasing number of researchers are focusing on the relationship between gangliosides and diseases. In this special collection of Frontiers in Pharmacology, we intend to summarize the latest advances in this field and to report new studies with original data. The articles published in this collection may be either original research or reviews. The research on gangliosides includes, but it is not limited to the following aspects that will be considered:

• The functional role and pharmacology of gangliosides in human diseases.
• Development of concepts about a specific type of gangliosides as a therapeutic agent.
• Development of ganglioside mimetics as therapeutic agents.
• Clinical studies on gangliosides used as drugs.
• In vitro synthesis of gangliosides or their mimetics.
• Development of anti-ganglioside immunotherapies (e.g. vaccine, therapeutic antibody and CAR-T cell).
• Development of inhibitors for enzymes involved in their synthases.

In silico studies (like network analyses) are not acceptable unless they are conducted in combination with experimental studies. Studies that focus on plant extracts and complex mixtures are not acceptable.

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