Sweet chemical signaling: Understanding the structure-function relationships of carbohydrates in neurobiology and cancer

Abstract

Carbohydrates comprise one of the largest and most diverse collections of biol. active mols., and it is increasingly clear that they participate in nearly every aspect of biol. However, relative to their macromol. peers (i.e., proteins and nucleic acids), carbohydrates remain relatively unexplored, and their structure-function relationships are still poorly understood. Several of the fundamental challenges inherent in studying carbohydrates include: (1) their chem. complexity; (2) the lack of efficient and sensitive anal. methods for their detection and quantification; and (3) their complex chem. synthesis and biosynthesis. We will describe the development of chem. approaches to overcome these fundamental challenges and how the principles and tools of chem. can be used to uncover new functions for carbohydrates and their assocd. proteins in neurobiol. and cancer.