Beyond glycosylation: sialic acid precursors act as signaling molecules and are involved in cellular control of differentiation of PC12 cells
-
Maria Kontou
Abstract
Sialic acids represent a family of 9-carbon acidic amino sugars expressed mainly as terminal monosaccharides on most mammalian glycoconjugates. Sialic acids play an outstanding role during cellular processes, such as development and regeneration, as they are involved in a variety of molecular interactions. Sialic acids are synthesized in the cytosol starting from UDP-N-acetylglucosamine by the UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase/N-acetylmannosamine-kinase (GNE), which is the key enzyme in the biosynthesis of sialic acid that catalyzes the generation of N-acetylmannosamine, which in turn is an intermediate of the sialic acid pathway that represents the natural molecular precursor of all sialic acids. Of increasing interest are the influence of the sialic acid precursor N-acetylmannosamine (or related N-acylmannosamines), GNE, and sialic acids themselves on cellular processes such as proliferation, gene expression, or cell differentiation. Here, we present recent data and review indications that N-acylmannosamines (the direct precursors of all sialic acids) may act as signaling molecules, and that the key enzyme of the sialic acid metabolism is directly involved in the regulation of cell proliferation and cell differentiation.
©2009 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York
Articles in the same Issue
- Guest Editorial
- Highlight: Perspectives in glycobiology
- Cell biology and glycosylation: protein targeting by O- and N-linked glycosylation
- Glycosylation- and phosphorylation-dependent intracellular transport of lysosomal hydrolases
- Glycosylation pattern of brush border-associated glycoproteins in enterocyte-like cells: involvement of complex-type N-glycans in apical trafficking
- Impact of glycosylation and detergent-resistant membranes on the function of intestinal sucrase-isomaltase
- MUC1 traverses apical recycling endosomes along the biosynthetic pathway in polarized MDCK cells
- Cell biology and glycosylation: carbohydrate-mediated recognition and signaling in cell proliferation and differentiation
- From structural to functional glycomics: core substitutions as molecular switches for shape and lectin affinity of N-glycans
- Brain development needs sugar: the role of polysialic acid in controlling NCAM functions
- Beyond glycosylation: sialic acid precursors act as signaling molecules and are involved in cellular control of differentiation of PC12 cells
- Glycosylation and disease
- Management of the human mucosal defensive barrier: evidence for glycan legislation
- Regulation and pathophysiological implications of UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase/ManNAc kinase (GNE) as the key enzyme of sialic acid biosynthesis
- GD3 synthase overexpression enhances proliferation and migration of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells
- Tumor-associated MUC1 glycopeptide epitopes are not subject to self-tolerance and improve responses to MUC1 peptide epitopes in MUC1 transgenic mice
- Protein-specific glycosylation and its control
- Protein-specific glycosylation: signal patches and cis-controlling peptidic elements
- O-glycosylation pattern of CD24 from mouse brain
- Advancements in analytical techniques
- Carbohydrate microarrays: key developments in glycobiology
- On-line nano-HPLC/ESI QTOF MS monitoring of α2–3 and α2–6 sialylation in granulocyte glycosphingolipidome
Articles in the same Issue
- Guest Editorial
- Highlight: Perspectives in glycobiology
- Cell biology and glycosylation: protein targeting by O- and N-linked glycosylation
- Glycosylation- and phosphorylation-dependent intracellular transport of lysosomal hydrolases
- Glycosylation pattern of brush border-associated glycoproteins in enterocyte-like cells: involvement of complex-type N-glycans in apical trafficking
- Impact of glycosylation and detergent-resistant membranes on the function of intestinal sucrase-isomaltase
- MUC1 traverses apical recycling endosomes along the biosynthetic pathway in polarized MDCK cells
- Cell biology and glycosylation: carbohydrate-mediated recognition and signaling in cell proliferation and differentiation
- From structural to functional glycomics: core substitutions as molecular switches for shape and lectin affinity of N-glycans
- Brain development needs sugar: the role of polysialic acid in controlling NCAM functions
- Beyond glycosylation: sialic acid precursors act as signaling molecules and are involved in cellular control of differentiation of PC12 cells
- Glycosylation and disease
- Management of the human mucosal defensive barrier: evidence for glycan legislation
- Regulation and pathophysiological implications of UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase/ManNAc kinase (GNE) as the key enzyme of sialic acid biosynthesis
- GD3 synthase overexpression enhances proliferation and migration of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells
- Tumor-associated MUC1 glycopeptide epitopes are not subject to self-tolerance and improve responses to MUC1 peptide epitopes in MUC1 transgenic mice
- Protein-specific glycosylation and its control
- Protein-specific glycosylation: signal patches and cis-controlling peptidic elements
- O-glycosylation pattern of CD24 from mouse brain
- Advancements in analytical techniques
- Carbohydrate microarrays: key developments in glycobiology
- On-line nano-HPLC/ESI QTOF MS monitoring of α2–3 and α2–6 sialylation in granulocyte glycosphingolipidome
