Glycoscience@Synchrotron: Synchrotron radiation applied to structural glycoscience

• Published in: Beilstein journal of organic chemistry Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 1145 - 1167
• Main Authors: Pérez, Serge, de Sanctis, Daniele
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Beilstein-Institut zur Föerderung der Chemischen Wissenschaften 14.06.2017; Beilstein-Institut
• Subjects: antibodies; Atoms & subatomic particles; carbohydrate binding domains; Carbohydrates; cellulose; Charged particles; Chemistry; Colloids; Crystals; Electrons; Energy; Glycolipids; glycosaminoglycans; glycosyl hydrolases; glycosyl transferases; Investigations; kinetic crystallography; Lectins; Macromolecules; Polysaccharides; powder diffraction; Protein structure; Radiation; Review; small-angle X-ray scattering; Spectrum allocation; starch; synchrotron radiation; transporters; X-ray crystallography; X-rays; glycosaminoglycans; polysaccharides; glycolipids; transporters; lectins; carbohydrate binding domains; kinetic crystallography; glycosyl hydrolases; small-angle X-ray scattering; powder diffraction; X-ray crystallography; cellulose; antibodies; starch; synchrotron radiation; glycosyl transferases
• ISSN: 1860-5397; 2195-951X; 1860-5397
• DOI: 10.3762/bjoc.13.114

Synchrotron radiation is the most versatile way to explore biological materials in different states: monocrystalline, polycrystalline, solution, colloids and multiscale architectures. Steady improvements in instrumentation have made synchrotrons the most flexible intense X-ray source. The wide range of applications of synchrotron radiation is commensurate with the structural diversity and complexity of the molecules and macromolecules that form the collection of substrates investigated by glycoscience. The present review illustrates how synchrotron-based experiments have contributed to our understanding in the field of structural glycobiology. Structural characterization of protein-carbohydrate interactions of the families of most glycan-interacting proteins (including glycosyl transferases and hydrolases, lectins, antibodies and GAG-binding proteins) are presented. Examples concerned with glycolipids and colloids are also covered as well as some dealing with the structures and multiscale architectures of polysaccharides. Insights into the kinetics of catalytic events observed in the crystalline state are also presented as well as some aspects of structure determination of protein in solution.