engleski

Glycodrugs: the importance of the sweet part

One of the commonest and least well understood posttranslational modifications of proteins is their glycosylation. Protein glycosylation is highly regulated and changes during differentiation, development, under different physiological conditions and in disease. Through the interactions with their physiological receptors – lectins, glycans are involved in numerous physiological processes such as fertilization, embryogenesis and development, cell migration, immune defense and microbial infection. Furthermore, many medicinal problems are associated with changes of glycan structures: tumor development and metastasis, allergies and autoimmune disorders, rejection of xenotrasplantants, individual response to therapy and many others. Although the evidences that changes of glycan structures directly cause a disease are yet rare, glycans are promising targets and tools for fighting diseases. The importance of glycobiology and carbohydrate chemistry is constantly increasing in modern biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. The carbohydrates of therapeutic recombinant glycoproteins have important roles in determining their biological activity, function, clearance from circulation, and crucially, antigenicity (e.g. erythropoietin, granulocyte macrophage-colony-stimulating factor, and tissue plasminogen activator). Important biological interactions and functions mediated by glycans are also targeted for therapeutic manipulation in vivo. The examples of emerging novel carbohydrate-based therapeutics including inhibitors of microbial pathogens and their toxins, cancer, microbial and viral vaccines, and drugs designed to suppress the immune system for treatment of inflammation and cancers will be presented.

glycodrugs; glycoproteins; lectins

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