Sialidases hydrolyse

Hydrolysis

Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction during which molecules of water are split into hydrogen cations and hydroxide anions in the process of a chemical mechanism. It is the type of reaction that is used to break down certain polymers, especially those made by condensation polymerization...

 alpha-(2->3)-, alpha-(2->6)-, alpha-(2->8)-glycosidic linkages of terminal sialic

Sialic acid

Sialic acid is a generic term for the N- or O-substituted derivatives of neuraminic acid, a monosaccharide with a nine-carbon backbone. It is also the name for the most common member of this group, N-acetylneuraminic acid...

 residues in oligosaccharide

Oligosaccharide

An oligosaccharide is a saccharide polymer containing a small number of component sugars, also known as simple sugars...

s, glycoprotein

Glycoprotein

Glycoproteins are proteins that contain oligosaccharide chains covalently attached to polypeptide side-chains. The carbohydrate is attached to the protein in a cotranslational or posttranslational modification. This process is known as glycosylation. In proteins that have segments extending...

s, glycolipid

Glycolipid

Glycolipids are lipids with a carbohydrate attached. Their role is to provide energy and also serve as markers for cellular recognition.-Metabolism:...

s, colominic acid and synthetic substrates. Sialidases may act as pathogenic factors in microbial infections.

Structure of trans-sialidase includes a catalytic beta-propeller domain, a N-terminal lectin

Lectin

Lectins are sugar-binding proteins that are highly specific for their sugar moieties. They play a role in biological recognition phenomena involving cells and proteins. For example, some viruses use lectins to attach themselves to the cells of the host organism during infection...

-like domain and an irregular beta-stranded domain inserted into the catalytic domain.