Measurement of sialic acid content on recombinant membrane proteins

BackgroundMembrane proteins such as cell adhesion molecules,receptors, transporters and ion channel proteins all haveessential roles in cell-growth, migration, and flow ofinformation, cell-cell and cell-protein communication.Membrane proteins are targets of biopharmaceuticalcompanies because they have diverse effects on the pro-gression of many diseases[1]. Ion channels are mem-brane proteins that play critical roles in a number ofcell functions including communication and neuromus-cular activity. Treatment of channelopathy diseases suchas cancer, cardiac arrhythmia, ataxia, paralysis, epilepsy,memory and learning loss, requires a broad understand-ing of ion channel function.Sialic acid is a criticalcharged glycan that affects the action potential of potas-sium channels which leads to changes in the neuronalsystem of organisms. In order to understand the effectof the sialylation on channel function, the presence ofthe sialic acid on the protein of interest should be stu-died. In this study, a novel method for the quantificationof sialic acid is described for a potassium channel mem-brane protein.Materials and methods