Sialyltransferase 8 (SIAT8)

Gangliosides are membrane-bound glycosphingolipids containing sialic acid. Ganglioside GD3 is known to be important for cell adhesion and growth of cultured malignant cells. The protein encoded by this gene is a type II membrane protein that catalyzes the transfer of sialic acid from CMP-sialic acid to GM3 to produce gangliosides GD3 and GT3.

ST8SIA1 may be found in the Golgi apparatus and is a member of glycosyltransferase family 29.The cDNA encodes a 341-amino acid protein containing a single transmembrane domain in its N-terminal region. The amino acid sequence of GD3 synthase shows a high level of similarity with those of other sialyltransferases at 2 conserved regions, both of which are the so-called sialyl motif typical of the sialyltransferase family.