title: The structural basis for carbohydrate recognition by lectins.
abstract: 1. Different carbohydrate-specific proteins, such as lectins, may combine with the same monosaccharide or oligosaccharide by different H-bonding and hydrophobic side chains. 2. Homologous proteins with distinct specificities may bind different monosaccharides (e.g., for glucose and galactose that differ in the configuration of a single hydroxyl) by the same set of invariant residues that are identically positioned in their tertiary structures. 3. The energetics of protein-carbohydrate interactions cannot be derived from structural information. 4. Nature solves in a variety of different ways the problem of constructing combining sites for carbohydrates, just as it provides diverse solutions for other functions of proteins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sharon
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lis
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000737:chemistry*; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000378:metabolism; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D037102:Lectins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009005:Monosaccharides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D037121:Plant Lectins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D020836:Protein Structure, Quaternary; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D002241:Carbohydrates; D037102:Lectins; D009005:Monosaccharides; D009844:Oligosaccharides; D037121:Plant Lectins