Sialylation (Homo sapiens)

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Sialic acids are monosaccharides derived from neuraminic acid, with the two most commonly occurring mammalian sialic acids being N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) and N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc). Sialic acids are commonly part of glycoproteins, glycolipids or gangliosides, where they decorate the end of sugar chains at the surface of cells or soluble proteins. Sialylated conjugates play important roles in many processes, including cell recognition and signaling, neuronal development, cancer metastasis and bacterial or viral infection

This pathway describes the biosynthesis of Neu5Ac, and was modeled based on figure 1 from Zhou et al.