Sialic Acids in Human Health and Disease

Overview

Journal Trends Mol Med

Specialties General Medicine
Molecular Biology

Date 2008 Jul 9

PMID 18606570

Citations 412

Authors

Ajit Varki

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The surfaces of all vertebrate cells are decorated with a dense and complex array of sugar chains, which are mostly attached to proteins and lipids. Most soluble secreted proteins are also similarly decorated with such glycans. Sialic acids are a diverse family of sugar units with a nine-carbon backbone that are typically found attached to the outermost ends of these chains. Given their location and ubiquitous distribution, sialic acids can mediate or modulate a wide variety of physiological and pathological processes. This review considers some examples of their established and newly emerging roles in aspects of human physiology and disease.

Citing Articles

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Luminescent Lanthanides in Biorelated Applications: From Molecules to Nanoparticles and Diagnostic Probes to Therapeutics.

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A framework for the simulation of individual glycan coordinates to analyze spatial relationships within the glycocalyx.

Fritsche S, Mockl L Front Cell Dev Biol. 2025; 12():1519831.

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N-acetylneuraminic acid promotes ferroptosis of H9C2 cardiomyocytes with hypoxia/reoxygenation injury by inhibiting the Nrf2 axis.

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