noun

• A crystalline compound of which derivatives occur in many animal substances, chiefly as sialic acids.

  A sugar with amino and acid groups; chemical formula: C₉H₁₇NO₈

  ‘When a flu virus enters your nose, it latches onto the first thing it finds with a neuraminic acid on it, mucus.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘FIG. 3 is a mass spectrometric spectrum of N-glycolyl neuraminic acid obtained by the inventive method.’
  • ‘Cutting out neuraminic acid from the cell membrane weakens the cell membrane.’
  • ‘The dialysable neuraminic acid does not, however, appear to be free, but rather to be bound to hexose and nitrogenous residues in glycopeptide-like low molecular weight compounds.’
  • ‘All three finally agreed to use sialic acid as the family name covering all of the more than thirty derivatives of neuraminic acid, with N-acetylneuraminic acid and N-glycolylneuraminic acid forming the core structures.’