Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B
Online ISSN : 1349-2896
Print ISSN : 0386-2208
ISSN-L : 0386-2208
Review
Sialic acids as link to Japanese scientists
Roland SCHAUER
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2016 Volume 92 Issue 4 Pages 109-120

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Abstract

This manuscript is dedicated to Prof. Tamio Yamakawa and describes my cooperations on sialic acid-related topics with Japanese scientists during the last 40 years. We studied sialic acids and their O-acetylated derivatives in the sea urchin Pseudocentrotus depressus, in Halocynthia species, and in human and bovine milk. In seafood we mainly searched for N-glycolylneuraminic acid. With synthetic substrates it was shown that sialic acid O-acetylation at C-4 hinders the activity of sialidases, with the exception of viral enzymes. The biosynthesis of Neu5Gc was discussed and the distribution of this sialic acid in dogs followed in modern literature and reviewed regarding their migration. An excellent source of sialic acids is edible bird nest substance (Collocalia mucin) which was used for the synthesis of sialylation inhibitors.

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© 2016 The Japan Academy
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