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Related Concept Videos

Protein Glycosylation01:25

Protein Glycosylation

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Glycosylation, the most common post-translational modification for proteins, serves diverse functions. Adding sugars to proteins makes the proteins more resistant to proteolytic digestion. Glycosylated proteins can act as markers and receptors to promote cell-cell adhesion. Additionally, they have many essential quality control functions in the cell, such as correct protein folding and facilitating transport of misfolded proteins to the cytosol, which can be degraded.
Glycosylation occurs in...
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Glycocalyx and its Functions01:14

Glycocalyx and its Functions

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The glycocalyx is a carbohydrate-rich, fuzzy-appearing layer on the outer surface of the cell membrane. It is highly hydrophilic, because of this it attracts large amounts of water to the cell's surface. This aids the cell's interaction with the watery environment and also helps it to obtain substances dissolved in the water. It is also important for cell identification, self/non-self determination, and embryonic development and is used in cell-to-cell attachments to form tissues.
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Cell-surface Signaling01:21

Cell-surface Signaling

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Hormones—or any molecule that binds to a receptor, known as a ligand—that are lipid-insoluble (water-soluble) are not able to diffuse across the cell membrane. In order to be able to affect a cell without entering it, these hormones bind to receptors on the cell membrane. When a first messenger, a hormone, binds to a receptor, a signal cascade is set off, causing second messengers, proteins inside the cell, to become activated, resulting in downstream effects.
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Cell Adhesion Molecules - Types and Functions01:20

Cell Adhesion Molecules - Types and Functions

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Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) are pivotal to multicellularity and the coordinated functioning of tissues and organ systems. They enable physical interactions between cells and provide mechanical strength to tissues. They also function as receptors for signal transmission across the plasma membrane. The CAMs are broadly classified into four families - integrins, cadherins, selectins, and immunoglobulin-like CAMs (IgCAMs).
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Cell Adhesion Molecules - Types and Functions01:20

Cell Adhesion Molecules - Types and Functions

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Oligosaccharide Assembly01:24

Oligosaccharide Assembly

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Protein glycosylation starts in the ER lumen and continues in the Golgi apparatus. Glycosyltransferases catalyze the addition of sugar molecules or glycosylation of proteins. Usually, these enzymes add sugars to the hydroxyl groups of selected serine or threonine residues to form O-linked glycans or the amino groups of asparagine residues to form N-linked glycans. Different positions on the same polypeptide chain can contain differently linked glycans.
Multiple sugar molecules that may or may...
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Metabolic Glycoengineering of Sialic Acid Using N-acyl-modified Mannosamines
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Metabolic Glycoengineering of Sialic Acid Using N-acyl-modified Mannosamines

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Advances in cell surface glycoengineering reveal biological function.

Nicole Nischan1, Jennifer J Kohler2

  • 1Department of Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA.

Glycobiology
|April 13, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Glycoengineering advances cell surface glycan control for biological insights. Novel chemical tools enable precise manipulation and study of cell surface glycans and their functions.

Keywords:
glycan labelingglycoproteomicsglycosyltransferasesmetabolic oligosaccharide engineeringmetabolism

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Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Cell Biology
  • Chemical Biology

Background:

  • Cell surface glycans mediate crucial biological interactions, including cell-cell, cell-ligand, and cell-pathogen communication.
  • Understanding and controlling glycan expression is key to deciphering their biological roles and directing cellular behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review recent developments in glycoengineering of cell surfaces, focusing on novel chemical strategies.
  • To highlight how these advances facilitate the study of cell surface glycans and their functions.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing novel chemical reagents for glycan engineering.
  • Employing synthetic lipid-glycans for cell surface modification.
  • Applying new chemical reporters for metabolic oligosaccharide engineering and in vivo labeling.
  • Leveraging improved chemical and enzymatic methods for glycoproteomics.
  • Using metabolic glycosyltransferase inhibitors.

Main Results:

  • Recent chemical and biochemical strategies complement genetic approaches for glycan engineering.
  • Novel reagents enable the introduction of unnatural functionalities, like fluorophores, into cell surface glycans.
  • Advances allow for tandem and in vivo labeling of glycans, enhancing their study.

Conclusions:

  • Glycoengineering, particularly with novel chemical tools, offers powerful methods to study cell surface glycans.
  • These advancements provide new avenues for understanding glycan functions and directing cellular processes.
  • The commercial availability of many reagents promotes wider adoption in biological research.