title: Determination of the absolute configuration of sialic acids in gangliosides from the sea cucumber Cucumaria echinata.
abstract: Enantiomeric pairs of sialic acid, D- and L-NeuAc (N-acetylneuraminic acid), were converted to D- and L-arabinose, respectively, by chemical degradation. Using this method, the absolute configuration of the sialic acid residues, NeuAc and NeuGc (N-glycolylneuraminic acid), in the gangliosides from the sea cucumber Cucumaria echinata was determined to be the D-form. Although naturally occurring sialic acids have been believed to be the D-form on the basis of biosynthetic evidence, this is the first report of the determination of the absolute configuration of the sialic acid residues in gangliosides using chemical methods.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyushu University, Maidashi, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Fumiaki
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kisa
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Tomofumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inagaki
authors.forename: Ryuichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Higuchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001089:Arabinose / Q000737:chemistry*; D002236:Carbohydrate Conformation; D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D048016:Cucumaria / Q000737:chemistry*; D005732:Gangliosides / Q000737:chemistry*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012794:Sialic Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D013237:Stereoisomerism
chemical_list: D005732:Gangliosides; D012794:Sialic Acids; D001089:Arabinose