Sialic acid metabolism and sialyltransferases: natural functions and applications |
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Authors: | Yanhong?Li Email author" target="_blank">Xi?ChenEmail author |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Chemistry, University of California-Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA; |
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Abstract: | Sialic acids are a family of negatively charged monosaccharides which are commonly presented as the terminal residues in glycans
of the glycoconjugates on eukaryotic cell surface or as components of capsular polysaccharides or lipooligosaccharides of
some pathogenic bacteria. Due to their important biological and pathological functions, the biosynthesis, activation, transfer,
breaking down, and recycle of sialic acids are attracting increasing attention. The understanding of the sialic acid metabolism
in eukaryotes and bacteria leads to the development of metabolic engineering approaches for elucidating the important functions
of sialic acid in mammalian systems and for large-scale production of sialosides using engineered bacterial cells. As the
key enzymes in biosynthesis of sialylated structures, sialyltransferases have been continuously identified from various sources
and characterized. Protein crystal structures of seven sialyltransferases have been reported. Wild-type sialyltransferases
and their mutants have been applied with or without other sialoside biosynthetic enzymes for producing complex sialic acid-containing
oligosaccharides and glycoconjugates. This mini-review focuses on current understanding and applications of sialic acid metabolism
and sialyltransferases. |
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Keywords: | |
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