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Recent advances in photoaffinity labeling strategies to capture Glycan-Protein interactions
Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2024 May 3;80:102456. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2024.102456. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTGlycans decorate all cells and are critical mediators of cellular processes through recognition by glycan-binding proteins (GBPs). While targeting glycan-protein interactions has great therapeutic potential, these interactions are challenging to study as they are generally transient and exhibit low binding affinities. Glycan-based photo-crosslinkable probes have enabled covalent capture and identification of unknown GBP receptors and glycoconjugate ligands. Here, we review recent progress in photo-crosslinking approach...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Biology - May 5, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Jonathan L Babulic Fabiola V De Le ón González Chantelle J Capicciotti Source Type: research

Functions and mechanisms of enzymes assembling lignans and norlignans
Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2024 Apr 30;80:102462. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2024.102462. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTLignans and norlignans are distributed throughout the plant kingdom and exhibit diverse chemical structures and biological properties that offer potential for therapeutic use. Originating from the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway, their characteristic carbon architectures are formed through unique enzyme catalysis, featuring regio- and stereoselective C-C bond forming processes. Despite extensive research on these plant natural products, their biosynthetic pathways, and enzyme mechanisms remain enigmatic. This rev...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Biology - May 1, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Richiro Ushimaru Source Type: research

Towards chemoenzymatic labeling strategies for profiling protein glycosylation
Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2024 Apr 27;80:102460. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2024.102460. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTProtein glycosylation is one of the most common and important post-translational modifications of proteins involved in regulating glycoprotein functions. The chemoenzymatic glycan labeling strategy allows rapid, efficient, and selective interrogation of glycoproteins. Glycoproteomics identifies protein glycosylation events at a large scale, providing information such as peptide sequences, glycan structures, and glycosylated sites. This review discusses the recent development of chemoenzymatic labeling strategies for g...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Biology - April 28, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Yinping Tian Shengzhou Ma Liuqing Wen Source Type: research

Recent advances in minimal fluorescent probes for optical imaging
Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2024 Apr 25;80:102458. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2024.102458. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTFluorescent probes have revolutionized biological imaging by enabling the real-time visualization of cellular processes under physiological conditions. However, their size and potential perturbative nature can pose challenges in retaining the integrity of biological functions. This manuscript highlights recent advancements in the development of small fluorescent probes for optical imaging studies. Single benzene-based fluorophores offer versatility with minimal disruption, exhibiting diverse properties like aggregatio...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Biology - April 26, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Fabio de Moliner Ferran Nadal-Bufi Marc Vendrell Source Type: research

Advances in the understanding and exploitation of carbohydrate-active enzymes
Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2024 Apr 23;80:102457. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2024.102457. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTCarbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) are responsible for the biosynthesis, modification and degradation of all glycans in Nature. Advances in genomic and metagenomic methodologies, in conjunction with lower cost gene synthesis, have provided access to a steady stream of new CAZymes with both well-established and novel mechanisms. At the same time, increasing access to cryo-EM has resulted in exciting new structures, particularly of transmembrane glycosyltransferases of various sorts. This improved understanding has r...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Biology - April 24, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Rajneesh K Bains Seyed Amirhossein Nasseri Jacob F Wardman Stephen G Withers Source Type: research

Recent advances in the synthesis of extensive libraries of heparan sulfate oligosaccharides for structure-activity relationship studies
Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2024 Apr 17;80:102455. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2024.102455. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTHeparan sulfate (HS) is a linear, sulfated and highly negatively-charged polysaccharide that plays important roles in many biological events. As a member of the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) family, HS is commonly found on mammalian cell surfaces and within the extracellular matrix. The structural complexities of natural HS polysaccharides have hampered the comprehension of their biological functions and structure-activity relationships (SARs). Although the sulfation patterns and backbone structures of HS can be major deter...
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Biology - April 18, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Sherif Ramadan Morgan Mayieka Nicola L B Pohl Jian Liu Linda C Hsieh-Wilson Xuefei Huang Source Type: research