N-Acetyl-D-mannosamine monohydrate

Sialic acids, commonly present as terminal carbohydrates on glycoconjugates, are essential for a variety of cellular functions including cell adhesion and signal recognition as well as the formation and progression of tumors.¹ Disruption of sialic acid biosynthesis can result in severe glomerular proteinuria or neuromuscular disorders such as hereditary inclusion body myopathy (HIBM).² N-Acetyl-D-mannosamine (ManNAc) is the precursor of all physiological sialic acids. Intraperitoneal injection of ManNAc twice daily at 1,000 mg/kg in C57BL/6 mice for 13 days leads to increased sialylation in kidney, liver, blood cells, brain, spinal cord, muscle, heart, lung, and spleen.³ ManNAc reverses hyposialylation and improves glomerular integrity in GneM712T/M712T mice whose key enzyme for sialic acid production has been deleted and may prove therapeutic in the treatment of HIBM.²

1.Schwarzkopf, M., Knobeloch, K.P., Rohde, E., et al.Sialylation is essential for early development in miceProc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA99(8)5267-5270(2002) 2.Galeano, B., Klootwijk, R., Manoli, I., et al.Mutation in the key enzyme of sialic acid biosynthesis causes severe glomerular proteinuria and is rescued by N-acetylmannosamineJ. Clin. Invest.117(6)1585-1594(2007) 3.Gagiannis, D., Gossrau, R., Reutter, W., et al.Engineering the sialic acid in organs of mice using N-propanoylmannosamineBiochim. Biophys. Acta1770297-306(2007)