title: Organizing multivalency in carbohydrate recognition.
abstract: The interactions of cell surface carbohydrates as well as of soluble glycoconjugates with their receptor proteins rule fundamental processes in cell biology. One of the supramolecular principles underlying and regulating carbohydrate recognition is multivalency. Many multivalent glycoconjugates have therefore been synthesized to study multivalency effects operative in glycobiology. This review is focused on smaller multivalent structures such as glycoclusters emphasizing carbohydrate-centered and heteromultivalent glycoconjugates. We are discussing primary, secondary and tertiary structural aspects including approaches to organize multivalency.
authors.affiliation: Otto Diels Institute of Organic Chemistry, Christiana Albertina University of Kiel, Otto-Hahn-Platz 3/4, D-24118 Kiel, Germany. tklind@oc.uni-kiel.de.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Despras
authors.forename: Thisbe K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Lindhorst
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002236:Carbohydrate Conformation; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000737:chemistry*; D006001:Glycoconjugates / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates; D006001:Glycoconjugates