Sialidase 3, Membrane (SIAL3)

SIAL3 is localized in the plasma membrane, and its activity is specific for gangliosides. It may play a role in modulating the ganglioside content of the lipid bilayer.The deduced 428-amino acid NEU3 protein contains a predicted transmembrane domain and features characteristic of sialidases, including an arg-ile-pro sequence and 3 asp boxes. Human NEU3 shares 83% amino acid sequence identity with bovine membrane sialidase, 39% identity with rat cytosolic sialidase, and 19% identity with human lysosomal sialidase. Northern blot analysis detected a major 7.4-kb NEU3 transcript in several human tissues, with the most abundant expression in skeletal muscle and testis, and relatively high expression in pancreas, liver, heart, brain, thymus, spleen, and prostate; a 2.0-kb transcript was also found in some tissues, including skeletal muscle.