Investigating sialyltransferases in insects: computational identification of conserved motifs and comparison to vertebrate enzymes

Ersoy C., Izzetoğlu S., KARAKÜLAH G., Turgay-Izzetoğlu G.

Biharean Biologist, cilt.18, sa.1, ss.68-78, 2024 (Scopus) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 18 Sayı: 1
  • Basım Tarihi: 2024
  • Dergi Adı: Biharean Biologist
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Scopus, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, Central & Eastern European Academic Source (CEEAS), Veterinary Science Database
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.68-78
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Bioinformatics, computational analysis, insect, sialylmotifs, sialyltransferases
  • Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Sialic acids are nine-carbon sugars that modify glycans on glycoconjugates and mediate important biological functions. While sialic acids have not been detected in insects (as it was considered that it is obtained from external sources), orthologs of sialic acid biosynthetic enzymes and insect ST6Gal sialyltransferases suggest ancestral sialylation pathways. Sialyltransferases contain conserved peptide regions called sialylmotifs (L, S, VS, III), participating in donor substrate binding and catalytic activity. We performed a computational analysis searching 27 insect proteomes for vertebrate sialylmotif sequences to identify putative novel insect sialyltransferases. Sialylmotif L sequences similar to mammalian ST3Gal IV and ST6GalNAc I were found in putative proteins from Galleria mellonella and Manduca sexta, respectively. Identifying sialyltransferase precursor genes in insects supports their evolutionary origin preceding vertebrate diversification. Despite the lack of sialic acid production, sialyltransferase genes in insects suggest an evolutionary perspective on conserved sialylation pathways.