title: Recent advances in the development of synthetic chemical probes for glycosidase enzymes.
abstract: The emergence of synthetic glycoconjugates as chemical probes for the detection of glycosidase enzymes has resulted in the development of a range of useful chemical tools with applications in glycobiology, biotechnology, medical and industrial research. Critical to the function of these probes is the preparation of substrates containing a glycosidic linkage that when activated by a specific enzyme or group of enzymes, irreversibly releases a reporter molecule that can be detected. Starting from the earliest examples of colourimetric probes, increasingly sensitive and sophisticated substrates have been reported. In this review we present an overview of the recent advances in this field, covering an array of strategies including chromogenic and fluorogenic substrates, lanthanide complexes, gels and nanoparticles. The applications of these substrates for the detection of various glycosidases and the scope and limitations for each approach are discussed.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity College, Pearse St, Dublin 2, Ireland. gunnlaut@tcd.ie eoin.scanlan@tcd.ie.
authors.forename: Helen M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.forename: Thorfinnur
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gunnlaugsson
authors.forename: Eoin M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Scanlan
mesh_terms: D002863:Chromogenic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D028581:Lanthanoid Series Elements / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D015335:Molecular Probes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D002863:Chromogenic Compounds; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D005782:Gels; D028581:Lanthanoid Series Elements; D015335:Molecular Probes; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases