Looked at from the outside of the cell, proteins are often hidden behind a forest of sugar chains. Using a sugar analog to introduce thiols onto the tips of the branches of this forest alters cell attachment and has unexpected consequences for cell differentiation.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Sampathkumar, S.-G., Li, A.V., Jones, M.B., Sun, Z. & Yarema, K.Y. Nat. Chem. Biol. 2, 149–152 (2006).
Seeberger, P.H. & Werz, D.B. Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 4, 751–763 (2005).
Keppler, O.T., Horstkorte, R., Pawlita, M., Schmidt, C. & Reutter, W. Glycobiology 11, 11R–18R (2001).
Dube, D.H. & Bertozzi, C.R. Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 7, 616–625 (2003).
Lee, J.H. et al. J. Biol. Chem. 274, 21878–21884 (1999).
Chandra, R.A., Douglas, E.S., Mathies, R.A., Bertozzi, C.R. & Francis, M.B. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. (2005).
Xie, J. & Schultz, P.G. Methods 36, 227–238 (2005).
Chen, I., Howarth, M., Lin, W. & Ting, A.Y. Nat. Methods 2, 99–104 (2005).
Prescher, J.A., Dube, D.H. & Bertozzi, C.R. Nature 430, 873–877 (2004).
Fuster, M.M., Brown, J.R., Wang, L. & Esko, J.D. Cancer Res. 63, 2775–2781 (2003).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Howarth, M., Ting, A. Giving cells a new sugar-coating. Nat Chem Biol 2, 127–128 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio0306-127
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio0306-127