Biological Functions and Analytical Strategies of Sialic Acids in Tumor

Sialic acids, a subset of nine carbon acidic sugars, often exist as the terminal sugars of glycans on either glycoproteins or glycolipids on the cell surface. Sialic acids play important roles in many physiological and pathological processes via carbohydrate-protein interactions, including cell-cell communication, bacterial and viral infections. In particular, hypersialylation in tumors, as well as their roles in tumor growth and metastasis, have been widely described. Recent studies have indicated that the aberrant sialylation is a vital way for tumor cells to escape immune surveillance and keep malignance. In this article, we outline the present state of knowledge on the metabolic pathway of human sialic acids, the function of hypersialylation in tumors, as well as the recent labeling and analytical techniques for sialic acids. It is expected to offer a brief introduction of sialic acid metabolism and provide advanced analytical strategies in sialic acid studies.

唾液酸是九碳酸性糖的一个子集，通常作为细胞表面糖蛋白或糖脂上聚糖的末端糖存在。唾液酸通过糖 - 蛋白质相互作用在许多生理和病理过程中发挥重要作用，包括细胞 - 细胞通讯、细菌和病毒感染。特别是，肿瘤中的高唾液酸化以及它们在肿瘤生长和转移中的作用已被广泛描述。最近的研究表明，异常唾液酸化是肿瘤细胞逃避免疫监视并保持恶性的重要途径。在本文中，我们概述了关于人类唾液酸代谢途径、肿瘤中高唾液酸化的功能以及唾液酸近期的标记和分析技术的现有知识状况。期望对唾液酸代谢进行简要介绍，并为唾液酸研究提供先进的分析策略。