Carbohydrate-based scaffolds in drug discovery

Area of Science:

• Carbohydrate chemistry and medicinal chemistry.

Background:

• Carbohydrates serve as effective molecular scaffolds for presenting pharmacophores.
• Carbohydrate-based molecules exhibit diverse biological activities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the utility of carbohydrate scaffolds in medicinal chemistry.
• To summarize the biological activities of carbohydrate-based compounds.

Main Methods:

• Review of literature on carbohydrate-based pharmacophores.
• Analysis of biological data for carbohydrate derivatives.

Main Results:

• Carbohydrate scaffolds display pharmacophores targeting somatostatin receptors (SSTR), integrins, HIV-1 protease, matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), and multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP).
• Carbohydrate derivatives also function as RNA binders.
• Demonstrated antibacterial and herbicidal activities of carbohydrate compounds.

Conclusions:

• Carbohydrates are valuable building blocks for developing novel therapeutic agents.
• The versatility of carbohydrate scaffolds supports applications in drug discovery and agrochemicals.