Analysis of carbohydrate-carbohydrate interactions using gold glyconanoparticles and oligosaccharide self-assembling monolayers.
Carbohydrates are the most extended structures exposed at the surface of most cells. These carbohydrate chains, when arranged in polyvalent clusters, offer a rich supply of low-affinity binding sites, making them a reliable and flexible system to regulate cell adhesion and recognition. The very first model system for cell-cell recognition by means of carbohydrate-carbohydrate interactions in the animal kingdom came from a primitive invertebrate animal: the marine sponge. During the past 50 years, studies have shown that highly repetitive carbohydrate motives on extracellular proteoglycan supramolecular complexes of marine sponge cells are involved in the species-specific adhesion. In this chapter, some glyconanotechnology procedures are described for the detailed investigation of the role of a carbohydrate epitope in the marine sponge cell recognition. The various protocols are generally applicable in other areas of glycoscience.
Carvalho de Souza
Adriana
A
Department of Bio-Organic Chemistry, Bijvoet Center, Padualaan 8, CH Utrecth, The Netherlands.
Kamerling
Johannis P
JP
D000818:Animals; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000737:chemistry*; D006046:Gold; D053758:Nanoparticles; D009844:Oligosaccharides
D002241:Carbohydrates; D009844:Oligosaccharides; D006046:Gold