Tissue expression and amino acid sequence of murine UDP-N-acetylglucosamine-2-epimerase/N-acetylmannosamine kinase

Neuraminic acids are widely expressed as terminal carbohydrates on glycocon jugates and are involved in a variety of biological functions. The key enzy me of N-acetylneuraminic acid synthesis is UDP-N-acetylglucosamine-2-epimer ase/N-acetylmannosamine kinase, which catalyses the first two steps of neur aminic acid biosynthesis in the cytosol. In this study we report the comple te amino acid sequence of the mouse UDP-N-acetylglucosamine-2-epimerase/N-a cetylmannosamine kinase. The ORF of 2166 bp encodes 722 amino acids and a p rotein with a predicted molecular mass of 79.2 kDa. Northern blot analysis and in situ hybridization revealed that UDP-N-acetylglucosamine-2-epimerase /N-acetylmannosamine kinase is expressed at early stages during development and in all tissues investigated with a maximal expression in the liver.