Glycosidases: a key to tailored carbohydrates

In recent years, carbohydrate-processing enzymes have become the enzymes of choice in many applications thanks to their stereoselectivity and efficiency. This review presents recent developments in glycosidase-catalyzed synthesis via two complementary approaches: the use of wild-type enzymes with engineered substrates, and mutant glycosidases. Genetic engineering has recently produced glucuronyl synthases, an inverting xylosynthase and the first mutant endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase. A thorough selection of enzyme strains and aptly modified substrates have resulted in rare glycostructures, such as N-acetyl-beta-galactosaminuronates, beta1,4-linked mannosides and alpha1,4-linked galactosides. The efficient selection of mutant enzymes is facilitated by high-throughput screening assays involving the co-expression of coupled enzymes or chemical complementation. Selective glycosidase inhibitors and highly specific glycosidases are finding attractive applications in biomedicine, biology and proteomics.