Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 6, 2026

Bioinformatics Resources for the Study of Glycan-Mediated Protein Interactions
Published on: January 20, 2022
Databases of Conformations and NMR Structures of Glycan Determinants
Anita Sarkar1, Sophie Drouillard1, Alain Rivet1
1Centre de Recherches sur les Macromolécules Végétales, UPR5301 CNRS-Université Grenoble Alpes, BP53, 38041 Grenoble cédex 09, France.
Abstract:
The present study reports a comprehensive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) characterization and a systematic conformational sampling of the conformational preferences of 170 glycan moieties of glycosphingolipids as produced in large-scale quantities by bacterial fermentation. These glycans span across a variety of families including the blood group antigens (A, B and O), core structures (Types 1, 2 and 4), fucosylated oligosaccharides (core and lacto-series), sialylated oligosaccharides (Types 1 and 2), Lewis antigens, GPI-anchors and globosides. A complementary set of about 100 glycan determinants occurring in glycoproteins and glycosaminoglycans has also been structurally characterized using molecular mechanics-based computation. The experimental and computational data generated are organized in two relational databases that can be queried by the user through a user-friendly search engine. The NMR ((1)H and (13)C, COSY, TOCSY, HMQC, HMBC correlation) spectra and 3D structures are available for visualization and download in commonly used structure formats. Emphasis has been given to the use of a common nomenclature for the structural encoding of the carbohydrates and each glycan molecule is described by four different types of representations in order to cope with the different usages in chemistry and biology. These web-based databases were developed with non-proprietary software and are open access for the scientific community available at http://glyco3d.cermav.cnrs.fr.
Related Concept Videos
Protein Glycosylation
Glycosylation occurs in...
Globular and Fibrous Proteins
Globular proteins are also known as spheroproteins and typically are approximately round in shape. They contain a mix of amino acid types and contain differing sequences in their primary structures. Globular proteins have many different functions, such as enzymes, cellular messengers, and molecular transporters. These roles often require the proteins to be...
¹H NMR of Conformationally Flexible Molecules: Temporal Resolution
Oligosaccharide Assembly
Multiple sugar molecules that may or may...
Newman Projections
The organic molecules rotate across the single bonds leading to numerous temporary three-dimensional structures of varying energy known as...
Protein Organization
The primary structure of a protein is its amino acid sequence....

