Carbohydrate-Protein Interactions

Abstract

To improve the understanding of the biological role of oligosaccharides and glycoconjugates, the interactions of carbohydrates with their receptor proteins are studied. For this purpose, the natural carbohydrate ligands are prepared by chemical and enzymatic synthesis, and structure-activity relationships are established. The conformational analysis of such ligands in solution and bound to receptor proteins, in conjunction with docking studies, reveals major aspects of the carbohydrate-protein recognition process at a molecular level. This knowledge is of practical importance for the rational design of carbohydrate mimics.