The elongated antennae decorating eukaryotic glycans are built from polylactosamine repeats. Polylactosamine forms a lectin recognition site and also acts as a platform for presenting diverse additional modifications (e.g., terminal cell-surface antigens); it therefore plays important roles in cell adherence, development, and immunity. Two new papers present a detailed structural and mechanistic investigation of β1-3-N-acetylgucosaminyltransferase 2, a key enzyme in antennae synthesis. The resulting insights will also help decipher other members of GT31, the single largest human glycosyltransferase family.
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