Atherosclerosis is associated with increased trans-sialidase activity, which can be detected in atherosclerosis patients' blood plasma. The likely involvement in the disease pathogenesis made this activity an interesting research subject, and the enzyme that may performs such activity had been isolated and characterized in terms of substrate specificity and enzymatic properties. It was found that the enzyme had distinct optimum pH values, and its activity was enhanced by the presence of Ca2+ ions. Most importantly, the enzyme was able to cause atherogenic modification of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles in vitro. However, the identity of the discovered enzyme remained to be defined. Currently, sialyltransferases, mainly ST6Gal I, are regarded as major contributors to sialic acid metabolism in human blood. In this mini review, we discuss the possibility that atherosclerosis-associated trans-sialidase does in fact belong to the sialyltransferases family.

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