Reaction: NPL cleaves Neu5Ac,Neu5Gc to ManNAc,ManNGc and pyruvate
- in pathway: Sialic acid metabolism
Once in the cytosol, sialic acids are either reutilized or degraded. N-acetylneuraminate lyase (NPL) is a cytosolic, tetrameric enzyme that can cleave the major sialic acids N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) and N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) to form N-acetylmannosamine (ManNAc) and N-glycolylmannosamine (ManNGc) respectively (Wu et al. 2005). Although humans cannot form Neu5Gc due to a non-functional CMAHP enzyme, Neu5Gc can be ingested by dietary means and must therefore be degraded to avoid accumulation of this immunoreactive sialic acid (Bergfeld et al. 2012).
Reaction - small molecule participants:
PYR [cytosol]
Reactome.org reaction link: R-HSA-4085217
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Reaction input - small molecules:
Reaction output - small molecules:
pyruvate
Reactome.org link: R-HSA-4085217