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Expression of a functional Drosophila melanogaster N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) phosphate synthase gene: evidence for endogenous sialic acid biosynthetic ability in insects

Expression of a functional Drosophila melanogaster N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) phosphate... In this study, we report the first cloning and characterization of a N -acetylneuraminic acid phosphate synthase gene from Drosophila melanogaster , an insect in the protostome lineage. The gene is ubiquitously expressed at all stages of Drosophila development and in Schneider cells. Similar to the human homologue, the gene encodes an enzyme with dual substrate specificity that can use either N -acetylmannosamine 6-phosphate or mannose 6-phosphate to generate phosphorylated forms of both the sialic acids, N -acetylneuraminic acid and 2-keto-3-deoxy- d - glycero - d - galacto -nononic acid, respectively, when expressed in either bacterial or baculoviral expression systems. The identification of a functional sialic acid synthase in Drosophila indicates that insects have the biosynthetic capability to produce sialic acids endogenously. Although sialylation is widely distributed in organisms of the deuterstome lineage, genetic evidence concerning the presence or absence of sialic acid metabolism in organisms of the protostome lineage has been lacking. Homology searches of the Drosophila genome identified putative orthologues of other genes required for sialylation of glycoconjugates. Key words http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Glycobiology Oxford University Press

Expression of a functional Drosophila melanogaster N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) phosphate synthase gene: evidence for endogenous sialic acid biosynthetic ability in insects

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References (71)

Publisher
Oxford University Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 Oxford University Press
ISSN
0959-6658
eISSN
1460-2423
DOI
10.1093/glycob/12.2.73
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

In this study, we report the first cloning and characterization of a N -acetylneuraminic acid phosphate synthase gene from Drosophila melanogaster , an insect in the protostome lineage. The gene is ubiquitously expressed at all stages of Drosophila development and in Schneider cells. Similar to the human homologue, the gene encodes an enzyme with dual substrate specificity that can use either N -acetylmannosamine 6-phosphate or mannose 6-phosphate to generate phosphorylated forms of both the sialic acids, N -acetylneuraminic acid and 2-keto-3-deoxy- d - glycero - d - galacto -nononic acid, respectively, when expressed in either bacterial or baculoviral expression systems. The identification of a functional sialic acid synthase in Drosophila indicates that insects have the biosynthetic capability to produce sialic acids endogenously. Although sialylation is widely distributed in organisms of the deuterstome lineage, genetic evidence concerning the presence or absence of sialic acid metabolism in organisms of the protostome lineage has been lacking. Homology searches of the Drosophila genome identified putative orthologues of other genes required for sialylation of glycoconjugates. Key words

Journal

GlycobiologyOxford University Press

Published: Feb 1, 2002

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