The nature of sialic acids in human lymphocytes

Analysis of the sialic acids obtained by mild acid hydrolysis of B lymphocytes reveals the presence of N-acetylneuraminic acid and 9-O-acetyl-N-acetylneuraminic acid. For T lymphocytes only N-acetylneuraminic acid has been demonstrated to occur. The applied methods include quantitative colorimetry, thin-layer chromatography and combined gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.     

Diversity in the sialic acids

Fig. 1. The sialic acids. The nine-carbon backbone common toall sialic acids is shown. Natural substitutions described todate (at C₄, C₅, C₇ C₈, and C₉,) are indicated. Additional diversityis generated by various types of glycosidic linkage (at R₃)by generation of lactones (at C₁ ), by dehydro forms (eliminatingR₃), and anhydro forms diversity sialic acids neuraminic acids O-acetylation sialidase     

Presence of sialic acids in Lactobacillus plantarum

It was found that Lactobacillus plantarum (strain BA 11) is able to synthesize sialic acids during its growth in MRS medium and that these molecules are located mainly on the surface of the bacterium. It was demonstrated also that the addition externally of N-acetylneuraminic acid in concentrations ranged from 10 to 500 microM into the culture medium, resulted to a substantial increase of the growth rate of the bacterium. Bacterial cultures in presence of added sialic acid (100 microM) for 24 hours, resulted to a two fold increase of the final bacterial mass compared to the cultures in absence of sialic acid. Maximum levels of sialic acids were observed after 48 h of bacterial growth. It was also found that neuraminic acids production was increased when Mn++ and Mg++ ions were added in the culture medium, while the addition of Co++, Ca++, Ba++, Cu++ and Ni++ had a negative effect.     

Role of sialic acids in rotavirus infection

Rotaviruses are the leading cause of childhood diarrhea. The entry of rotaviruses into the host cell is a complex process that includes several interactions of the outer layer proteins of the virus with different cell surface molecules. The fact that neuraminidase treatment of the cells, or preincubation of the virus with sialic acid-containing compounds decrease the infectivity of some rotavirus strains, suggested that these viruses interact with sialic acid on the cell surface. The infectivity of some other rotavirus strains is not affected by neuraminidase treatment of the cells, and therefore they are considered neuraminidase-resistant. However, the current evidence suggests that even these neuraminidase-resistant strains might interact with sialic acids located in context different from that of the sialic acids used by the neuraminidase-sensitive strains. This review summarizes our current knowledge of the rotavirus-sialic acid interaction, its structural basis, the specificity with which distinct rotavirus isolates interact with sialic acid-containing compounds, and also the potential use of these compounds as therapeutic agents.     

A sialylated glycan microarray reveals novel interactions of modified sialic acids with proteins and viruses

Many glycan-binding proteins in animals and pathogens recognize sialic acid or its modified forms, but their molecular recognition is poorly understood. Here we describe studies on sialic acid recognition using a novel sialylated glycan microarray containing modified sialic acids presented on different glycan backbones. Glycans terminating in β-linked galactose at the non-reducing end and with an alkylamine-containing fluorophore at the reducing end were sialylated by a one-pot three-enzyme system to generate α2-3- and α2-6-linked sialyl glycans with 16 modified sialic acids. The resulting 77 sialyl glycans were purified and quantified, characterized by mass spectrometry, covalently printed on activated slides, and interrogated with a number of key sialic acid-binding proteins and viruses. Sialic acid recognition by the sialic acid-binding lectins Sambucus nigra agglutinin and Maackia amurensis lectin-I, which are routinely used for detecting α2-6- and α2-3-linked sialic acids, are affected by sialic acid modifications, and both lectins bind glycans terminating with 2-keto-3-deoxy-D-glycero-D-galactonononic acid (Kdn) and Kdn derivatives stronger than the derivatives of more common N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) and N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc). Three human parainfluenza viruses bind to glycans terminating with Neu5Ac or Neu5Gc and some of their derivatives but not to Kdn and its derivatives. Influenza A virus also does not bind glycans terminating in Kdn or Kdn derivatives. An especially novel aspect of human influenza A virus binding is its ability to equivalently recognize glycans terminated with either α2-6-linked Neu5Ac9Lt or α2-6-linked Neu5Ac. Our results demonstrate the utility of this sialylated glycan microarray to investigate the biological importance of modified sialic acids in protein-glycan interactions.     

Fluorimetric assay of sialic acids.

A fluorimetric assay has been developed for sialic acids in which sialic acids react with pyridoxamine to give fluorescent compounds in the presence of zinc ion and pyridine. This assay method is specific for unbound sialic acids and is a simple and sensitive procedure compared with the thiobarbituric acid assay of sialic acids.     

The in situ distribution of glycoprotein-bound 4-O-Acetylated sialic acids in vertebrates

Sialic acids are located at the terminal branches of the cell glycocalyx and secreted glycan molecules. O-Acetylation is an important modification of the sialic acids, however very few studies have demonstrated the in situ distribution of the O-Acetylated sialic acids. Here the distribution of glycoprotein bound 4-O-Acetylated sialic acids (4-O-Ac sias) in vertebrates was determined using a novel virus histochemistry assay. The 4-O-Ac sias were found in the circulatory system, i.e. on the surface of endothelial cells and RBCs, of several vertebrate species, though most frequently in the cartilaginous fish (class Chondrichthyes) and the bony fish (class Osteichthyes). The O-Acetylated sialic acid was detected in 64 % of the examined fish species. Even though the sialic acid was found less commonly in higher vertebrates, it was found at the same location in the positive species. The general significance of this endothelial labelling pattern distribution is discussed. The seemingly conserved local position through the evolution of the vertebrates, suggests an evolutionary advantage of this sialic acid modification.     

The metabolism of sialic acids in isolated rat colonic mucosal cells.

The activities of ten enzymes involved in sialic acid metabolism were measured in colonic mucosal cells from rats and compared with those in liver. A methodology was devised that enabled all ten enzyme activities to be evaluated in a single rat colon preparation. Enzyme assays with radioactively labelled substrates were developed for maximum sensitivity, and the identification of substrates and products was carefully checked to assess the contribution of contaminants to enzyme reactions with low activity. The activities of most enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of N-acetyl-D-neuraminic acid (NeuAc) from UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine were found to be more than 20-fold lower than those in liver. The activities of CMP-NeuAc synthase, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine 2-epimerase, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine kinase, sialyltransferase and sialidase were similar to or 2-4-fold lower than in liver. The biosynthesis of NeuAc via its 9-phosphate was demonstrated in the 100 000 g supernatant of colonic-cell homogenates by enzymic assay and precursor experiments with N-acetyl[14C]-mannosamine. No alternative route for NeuAc formation could be detected. The 100 000g supernatant fractions of liver, kidney and colonic mucosal cells utilized N-acetyl[14C]mannosamine with differing efficiencies. Radioactive products identified as sialic acid biosynthetic intermediates amounted to 49%, 0.04% and 5.6% of added precursor in liver, kidney and colon respectively. Catabolism of labelled precursor to non-hexosamine products was high in kidney and colonic mucosal-cell fractions.