A unique methodology for the production of gangliosides and their respective therapeutic uses is presented. Gangliosides have been prepared by using an enzyme to couple the free oligosaccharide-fluoride with the lipid moiety. A mutant endoglycoceramidase efficiently catalyzes the coupling of these reagents and produces the glycolipid of interest with conversion yields up to 97%. This approach has been scaled to produce large quantities of GM1 which is used as an intermediate for drug discovery efforts. Analogs of GM1 have been created that are 1000 times more potent than GM1 at protecting primary dopaminergic striatal neurons from toxic insults. Similar neuroprotective/restorative effects have been observed in the MPTP induced model of Parkinson's Disease (PD). These compounds hold promise for the treatment of PD and other neurodegenerative diseases.