Applications of synthetic carbohydrates to chemical biology

Bernd Lepenies; Jian Yin; Peter H Seeberger

doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2010.02.016

Applications of synthetic carbohydrates to chemical biology

Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2010 Jun;14(3):404-11. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2010.02.016. Epub 2010 Mar 12.

Authors

Bernd Lepenies¹, Jian Yin, Peter H Seeberger

Affiliation

¹ Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Department of Biomolecular Systems, Research Campus Potsdam-Golm, 14476 Potsdam, Germany.

PMID: 20227905
DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2010.02.016

Abstract

Access to synthetic carbohydrates is an urgent need for the development of carbohydrate-based drugs, vaccines, adjuvants as well as novel drug delivery systems. Besides traditional synthesis in solution, synthetic carbohydrates have been generated by chemoenzymatic methods as well as automated solid-phase synthesis. Synthetic oligosaccharides have proven to be useful for identifying ligands of carbohydrate-binding proteins such as C-type lectins and siglecs using glycan arrays. Furthermore, glyconanoparticles and glycodendrimers have been used for specific targeting of lectins of the immune system such as selectins, DC-SIGN, and CD22. This review focuses on how diverse carbohydrate structures can be synthetically derived and highlights the benefit of synthetic carbohydrates for glycobiology.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Carbohydrates / chemical synthesis
Carbohydrates / chemistry*
Combinatorial Chemistry Techniques / methods
Drug Discovery / methods*
Glycomics / methods*
Humans
Models, Chemical

Substances

Carbohydrates