Alpha-Gal oligosaccharides: chemistry and potential biomedical application

This article focuses on the most recent research efforts by the Wang group in the field of alpha-Gal oligosaccharides. alpha-Gal oligosaccharides are carbohydrate structures bearing a Gal( alpha)1-3Gal(beta) terminus. This class of compounds are believed to act as xenoactive antigens that instigate the hyperacute rejection in xenotransplantation. Enzymatic methods using recombinant (alpha)1-3 galactosyltransferase were employed to synthesize several alpha-Gal oligosaccharides. In addition, a chemical synthetic scheme was devised in order to produce readily accessible amounts of alpha-Gal. Conformational analysis was done using both NMR techniques and molecular modeling protocols. These studies provide important information in the structure-function relationship of alpha-Gal and anti- alpha-Gal antibodies.