R. Horstkorte et al., Tissue expression and amino acid sequence of murine UDP-N-acetylglucosamine-2-epimerase/N-acetylmannosamine kinase, EUR J BIOCH, 260(3), 1999, pp. 923-927
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.