Glycans (carbohydrate chains) of marine creatures are rich and diverse in polysaccharides, glycoproteins, and glycolipids. The chains that are metabolized by glycan-related enzymes (glycosyltransferases and glycosidases) are recognized by glycan-binding proteins (lectins) which regulate cellular processes such as growth, differentiation, and death. Marine glycomics that involves the genome and transcriptome accelerates our understanding of the evolution of glycans, glycan-related enzymes, and lectins. From 2017 to 2019, the Special Issue “Marine Glycobiology, Glycomics and Lectins” of the journal Marine Drugs published scientific articles and reviews, on the background of “glycobiology”—that is, glycan-based biosciences. The aim was to promote the discovery of novel biomolecules that contribute to drug development and clinical studies. This has great potential for establishing connections between the fields of both human health and marine life sciences. This book contains 11 scientific papers representing current topics in comprehensive glycosciences related to therapeutic agents from marine natural products, as outlined.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Snake Venom Metalloproteinases" that was published in Toxins

Marine glycobiology is an emerging and exciting area in the field of science and medicine. Glycobiology, the study of the structure and function of carbohydrates and carbohydrate-containing molecules, is fundamental to all biological systems and represents a developing field of science that has made huge advances in the last half-century. This book revolutionizes the concept of marine glycobiology, focusing on the latest principles and applications of marine glycobiology and their relationships.

This book contains contributions from interdisciplinary scientists to collectively address the issue of targeting carbohydrate recognition for the development of novel therapeutic and diagnostic agents. The book covers (1) biological problems involving carbohydrate recognition, (2) structural factors mediating carbohydrate recognition, (3) design and synthesis of lectin mimics that recognize carbohydrate ligands with high specificity and affinity, and (4) modulation of biological and pathological processes through carbohydrate recognition.

In recent years, there has been a steady increase in the publication of papers on the chemistry, biology, and potential clinical uses of marine glycosides. Indeed, more than half of the papers published in this field are less than a decade old. Glycosides have been isolated from species as diverse as algae, fungi, anthozoans, and echinoderms. Even fish of the genus Pardachirus produce glycosides, which they use as shark repellents.The major interest in these compounds as potential drugs stems from their broad spectrum of biological effects. They have been shown to have antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, immune modulatory, and anticancer effects. The anticancer effects of marine glycosides include cell cycle suppression, the induction of apoptosis, and the inhibition of migration, invasion, and metastasis, as well as antiangiogenesis. Marine glycosides influence membrane permeability and have been shown to influence membrane transport at the molecular level through effects on transport carriers and pumps, as well as effects on ligand-gated and voltage-gated channels. Various marine glycosides have been shown to activate sphingomyelinase and ceramide synthesis, to inhibit topoisomerase activity, receptor tyrosine kinase activity, and multidrug resistance protein activity, and to antagonize eicosanoid receptors.This Special Issue covers the entire scope of marine organism-derived glycosides that are of potential value as pharmaceutical agents or leads. These include, but are not limited to, tetracyclic triterpene glycosides, other triterpene glycosides, steroid glycosides, and glycosides of non-isoprenoid aglycones.

This book is the first to be dedicated to the bioinformatics of carbohydrates and glycoproteins. It provides an introduction to this emerging field of science both for the experimentalist working in glycobiology and glycomics, and also for the computer scientist looking for background information for the development of highly sophisticated algorithmic approaches. The book provides an overview of the state-of-the-art in the field, with reviews on databases, and the tools in use for analysis, interpretation, and prediction of the structures of complex carbohydrates, and demonstrates the value of bioinformatics for glycobiology. The availability of comprehensive databases and corresponding bioinformatics tools, to access and analyse the large amounts of experimental data relating to the structure of carbohydrates, will be a prerequisite for the success of the large-scale glycomics projects that aim to decipher new, so far unknown, biological functions of glycans. Efficient bioinformatics descriptions and tools can considerably enhance the efficiency of glycomics research, in terms of data quality, analysis and experimental costs. For a complete understanding of the molecular processes in which carbohydrates are involved, such as protein–carbohydrate interactions and the impact of glycosylation on protein function, knowledge of the 3D structure of the carbohydrate, the protein–carbohydrate complex, or the glycoprotein is often indispensable. This book provides a thorough introduction into methods used for conformational analysis of carbohydrates. Key features: Describes bioinformatic approaches to handle carbohydrate-active enzymes and glycosylation. Provides an overview on bioinformatics tools that facilitate analysis of carbohydrate structures. Gives introduction into molecular modelling of carbohydrate 3D structure and carbohydrates contained in the Protein Databank. Assumes only a basic knowledge of biology and bioinformatics.

This book contains original papers and reviews on carbohydrate research in medicine, authored by participants of the 29th International Carbohydrate Symposium, where this topic had a special emphasis. The focus on biological events involving carbohydrates and glycoconjugates has delivered reliable approaches for disease treatment and diagnosis. Research on carbohydrate-based compounds for therapeutic applications is illustrated in various contributions, namely those covering the development of novel agents against Alzheimer’s disease, e.g. the neuroprotective C-glucosylated flavones and the isonucleoside-based cholinesterase inhibitors. New imino sugar glucosidase inhibitors are also disclosed, a class of compounds with potential for diabetes, Gaucher disease or cancer treatment. Also the development of a useful synthetic method towards multivalent glycoclusters of biomedical interest is here highlighted. The relevance of glycomimetics in drug discovery and the progress on carbohydrates in early diagnosis and cancer treatment are reviewed. Noteworthy is the chitosan-based delivery system for drug oral administration, a new biomaterial-based approach to improve bioavailability. Another study on the conformation of Streptococcus capsular polysaccharide backbones by molecular modelling provides useful information for bacterial immunotherapeutic approaches. All original contributions and reviews clearly demonstrate the potential of glycosciences for innovation in medicinal (glyco)chemistry and pharmaceutical research.

Glycosaminoglycans are linear, anionic polysaccharides (GAGs) consisting of repeating disaccharides. GAGs are ubiquitously localized throughout the extracellular matrix (ECM) and to the cell membranes of cells in all tissues. They are either conjugated to protein cores in the form of proteoglycans, e.g., chondroitin/dermatan sulfate (CS/DS), heparin/heparan sulfate (Hep/HS) and keratan sulfate (KS), as well as non-sulfated hyaluronan (HA). By modulating biological signaling GAGs participate in the regulation of homeostasis and also participate in disease progression. The book, entitled “Exploring the multifaceted roles of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs)--new advances and further challenges”, features original research and review articles. These articles cover several GAG-related timely topics in structural biology and imaging; morphogenesis, cancer, and other disease therapy and drug developments; tissue engineering; and metabolic engineering. This book also includes an article illustrating how metabolic engineering can be used to create the novel chondroitin-like polysaccharide.A prerequisite for communicating in any discipline and across disciplines is familiarity with the appropriate terminology. Several nomenclature rules exist in the field of biochemistry. The historical description of GAGs follows IUPAC and IUB nomenclature. New structural depictions such as the structural nomenclature for glycan and their translation into machine-readable formats have opened the route for cross-references with popular bioinformatics resources and further connections with other exciting “omics” fields.

Sugar chains (glycans) are often attached to proteins and lipids and have multiple roles in the organization and function of all organisms. "Essentials of Glycobiology" describes their biogenesis and function and offers a useful gateway to the understanding of glycans.

A new focus on glycoscience, a field that explores the structures and functions of sugars, promises great advances in areas as diverse as medicine, energy generation, and materials science, this report finds. Glycans-also known as carbohydrates, saccharides, or simply as sugars-play central roles in many biological processes and have properties useful in an array of applications. However, glycans have received little attention from the research community due to a lack of tools to probe their often complex structures and properties. Transforming Glycoscience: A Roadmap for the Future presents a roadmap for transforming glycoscience from a field dominated by specialists to a widely studied and integrated discipline, which could lead to a more complete understanding of glycans and help solve key challenges in diverse fields.