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Biotechnological production and applications of N-acetyl-d-neuraminic acid: current state and perspectives

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Abstract

N-Acetyl-d-neuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) and its derivates are a very important group of biomolecules because these sugars occupy the terminal positions in numerous macromolecules, such as the glycans of glycoproteins, and are involved in many biological and pathological phenomena. The synthesis and applications of Neu5Ac are attracting much interest due to the potential applications of this compound in the pharmaceutical industry, such as in the synthesis of the anti-flu drug zanamivir. In this review article, we discuss existing knowledge on the biotechnological production and applications of Neu5Ac and also propose some guidelines for future studies.

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Acknowledgements

The study was partly supported by grants from the State Major Basic Research Development Program (China; Numbers: 2007CB714303 and 2007CB707803). The authors would also like to acknowledge partial financial support from National Natural Science Foundation of China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MOE Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, People’s Republic of China

    Fei Tao & Ping Xu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, People’s Republic of China

    Yinan Zhang & Cuiqing Ma

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  1. Fei Tao
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  2. Yinan Zhang
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  3. Cuiqing Ma
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  4. Ping Xu
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Correspondence to Ping Xu.

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Fei Tao and Yinan Zhang contributed equally to this article.

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Tao, F., Zhang, Y., Ma, C. et al. Biotechnological production and applications of N-acetyl-d-neuraminic acid: current state and perspectives. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 87, 1281–1289 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-010-2700-6

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