title: Enzymes for the biocatalytic production of rare sugars.
abstract: Carbohydrates are much more than just a source of energy as they also mediate a variety of recognition processes that are central to human health. As such, saccharides can be applied in the food and pharmaceutical industries to stimulate our immune system (e.g., prebiotics), to control diabetes (e.g., low-calorie sweeteners), or as building blocks for anticancer and antiviral drugs (e.g., L: -nucleosides). Unfortunately, only a small number of all possible monosaccharides are found in nature in sufficient amounts to allow their commercial exploitation. Consequently, so-called rare sugars have to be produced by (bio)chemical processes starting from cheap and widely available substrates. Three enzyme classes that can be used for rare sugar production are keto-aldol isomerases, epimerases, and oxidoreductases. In this review, the recent developments in rare sugar production with these biocatalysts are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Industrial Biotechnology and Biocatalysis, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium. koen.beerens@ugent.be
authors.forename: Koen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Beerens
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Desmet
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Soetaert
mesh_terms: D019747:Aldose-Ketose Isomerases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D015202:Protein Engineering; D019998:Racemases and Epimerases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D013549:Sweetening Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D000998:Antiviral Agents; D002241:Carbohydrates; D013549:Sweetening Agents; D010088:Oxidoreductases; D019998:Racemases and Epimerases; D019747:Aldose-Ketose Isomerases