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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Identifying Cell Surface Markers of Primary Neural Stem and Progenitor Cells by Metabolic Labeling of Sialoglycan
Published on: September 7, 2019
Lessons from GNE-deficient embryonic stem cells: sialic acid biosynthesis is involved in proliferation and gene
Wenke Weidemann1, Christian Klukas, Andreas Klein
1Institute of Physiological Chemistry, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Hollystr. 1, D-06114 Halle, Germany. wenke.weidemann@medizin.uni-halle.de
Abstract:
Sialic acids are widely expressed as terminal carbohydrates on glycoconjugates of eukaryotic cells. They are involved in a variety of cellular functions, such as cell adhesion or signal recognition. The key enzyme of sialic acid biosynthesis is the bifunctional UDP-N-acetylglucosamine-2-epimerase/N-acetylmannosamine kinase (GNE), which catalyzes the first two steps of sialic acid biosynthesis in the cytosol. Inactivation of GNE causes early embryonic lethality. In this study, we analyzed wild-type and GNE-deficient embryonic stem cells from mice. We found for the first time that proliferation is directly correlated with GNE-expression and the cellular sialic acid concentration. Furthermore, we identified growth-related genes that are differentially expressed in GNE-deficient embryonic stem cells compared to wild-type embryonic stem cells.
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