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Sialic Acid
(redirected from Sialic acids)

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sialic acid: see glycoprotein glycoprotein , organic compound composed of both a protein and a carbohydrate joined together in covalent chemical linkage. These structures occur in many life forms; they are prevalent and important in mammalian tissues.
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sialic acid [sī′al·ik ′as·əd]
(biochemistry)
Any of a family of amino sugars, containing nine or more carbon atoms, that are nitrogen- and oxygen-substituted acyl derivatives of neuraminic acid; as components of lipids, polysaccharides, and mucoproteins, they are widely distributed in bacteria and in animal tissues.

Sialic Acid 

any of the monobasic polyhydroxy amino acids that are derivatives of neuraminic acid. Sialic acids are colorless crystalline solids that dissolve readily in water but are insoluble in nonpolar solvents. They decompose without melting in the temperature range 130°-200°C and are easily decomposed by the action of acids and bases. In nature, as components of glycoproteins and glycolipids, sialic acids are found in, among other places, the cell walls of animals, nerve tissue, and mucous secretions. The biosynthesis of biopolymers containing sialic acids is carried out using the activated form of sialic acids, namely, cytidine monophosphate-sialic acids, which are special sialyltransferase enzymes. Sialic acids determine the antigen and receptor properties of cell surfaces, participating in the interaction of the surfaces with, for example, viruses, toxins, and hormones.



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[FIGURE OMITTED] Recent work has also identified that contemporary North American lineage subtype H7 viruses, isolated in 2002-03, are partially adapted to recognize [alpha]2-6 linked sialic acids, which are the receptors preferred by human influenza viruses and found in the human upper respiratory tract (34).
Rotaviruses are thought to infect the bodies by sticking to certain types of sugars called sialic acids on the surface of our stomach cells.
347 QP702 The 24 contributions in this laboratory handbook present methods for overcoming the problems inherent in assays of water-insoluble biomolecules, assaying specific mammalian glycosyltransferases involved in the biosynthesis of N- and O-glycans of glycoproteins, and studying sialic acids, protein-bound carbohydrates of glycoproteins, extracellular glycoconjugates, and glycolipids.
 
 
 
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