Synthesis of Glycans and Glycopolymers Through Engineered Enzymes

The synthesis of defined glycans enables us to further understand their roles in a biological context. Although useful chemical methods have been developed for the synthesis of glycans, these typically require complex protection and deprotection steps along with challenging control of anomeric stereochemistry. Enzymatic methods offer an attractive alternative to chemical synthesis. In particular, the use of glycosynthases and thioglycoligases, classes of engineered glycoside hydrolases, offers an enticing approach to the stereo- and regioselective synthesis of glycans without the need for protecting groups. Herein, we describe recent progress in the use of glycosynthases and thioglycoligases for the synthesis of glycans and glycopolymers. (C) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.