Appearance    (1), white powder.

Solubility    soluble in water.

Stability    stable.

Risk    Solid form: flammable material; irritation, irritation to skin, eye, respiratory system. Harmful products of combustion are CO, CO2 and so on. Contact with strong oxidants, can cause to burn.

N-Acetylneuraminic acid has the widest distribution in nature and is mainly a constituent sugar of glycoproteins, glycolipids or bacterial pod membrane substances of animal cell membranes or secretion fluids. 

In glycoproteins or glycolipids, it is located at the non-reducing end of the sugar side chain due to the formation of a glycosidic bond by the ketone group at the 2-position, and its cathodic charge or unique chemical structure gives it various physiological specificities. 

The enzyme (neuraminidase) that hydrolyzes the terminal N-acetylneuraminic acid (NAN), which is removed, is widely distributed in nature from viruses to animals, 

and the role of this terminal acidic sugar residue has been clarified by the changes in physiological activity that occur when this enzyme is processed.

Biological Activity

N-Acetylneuraminic acid is a salivary monosaccharide found ubiquitously on the glycoproteins of cell membranes and the glycolipids of mammalian cell ganglioglycans. 

It plays a biological role in neurotransmission, leukocyte vasodilation, and viral or bacterial infections.

Targets

HumanEndogenousMetabolite

use

N-Acetylneuraminic UsesSalivary acids are carbohydrates that are widely found in nature and are essential components of many glycoproteins, 

glycopeptides, and glycolipids, and have a wide range of biological functions, such as regulation of the half-life of blood proteins, 

neutralization of a variety of toxins, cellular adhesion, antigen-antibody responses in immunity, and protection against cell lysis. 

Biochemical derivatives of sialic acid are also commonly used in drug synthesis.