title: Sialic acids in human health and disease.
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.
authors.affiliation: Glycobiology Research and Training Center, Departments of Medicine and Cellular & Molecular Medicine, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0687, USA. a1varki@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Ajit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Varki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D005306:Fertilization; D006801:Humans; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D012794:Sialic Acids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011134:Polysaccharides; D012794:Sialic Acids