sialic acid
nounDefinition of sialic acid
: any of a group of reducing amido acids that are essentially carbohydrates and are found especially as components of blood glycoproteins and mucoproteins
Examples of sialic acid in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Prehuman ancestors lost the ability to make a sugar molecule called a sialic acid. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Heart disease is the price of becoming human, UCSD study finds," 22 July 2019 These include overactive white blood cells and a tendency to diabetes in mice lacking the sialic acid. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Heart disease is the price of becoming human, UCSD study finds," 22 July 2019 This gene included a sialic acid sugar molecule called Neu5Gc. — Ashley Strickland, CNN, "Evolution may be why humans are prone to heart attacks, study says," 22 July 2019 This area docks with protrusions of carbohydrate molecules called sialic acids that bristle from cells. — Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, "By luck, Scripps Research scientists find clue to a powerful new class of flu drugs," 2 Apr. 2018 But this effort has failed, because the sialic acid receptor only binds weakly. — Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, "By luck, Scripps Research scientists find clue to a powerful new class of flu drugs," 2 Apr. 2018 Influenza viruses famously do this by latching onto sialic acids that hang on the outside of human cells in the respiratory tract. — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, "Virus fished from pond cures man’s deadly antibiotic-resistant infection," 20 Mar. 2018 What appears most novel is that unlike the previous studies, the glycans involved here terminate in a common form of human sugar called sialic acid. — Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, "New clues to making an effective HIV vaccine found by Scripps Research scientists," 18 Sep. 2017 And that’s where the sialic acid remnant could help. — Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Fossil molecule may help identify human ancestors," 11 Sep. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sialic acid.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for sialic acid
sialic acid
noun
si·al·ic acid
| \ (ˌ)sī-ˌal-ik-
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Medical Definition of sialic acid
: any of a group of reducing amido acids that are essentially carbohydrates and are found especially as components of blood glycoproteins and mucoproteins