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Nature Chemical Biology 2, 127–128 (1 March 2006) | doi:10.1038/nchembio0306-127

Giving cells a new sugar-coating

Mark Howarth & Alice Y Ting

Any binding event between a ligand and its cell surface receptor, between one cell and another, or between the cell and its surroundings must be considered in the context of the dense thicket of oligosaccharides on the surface of mammalian cells. On page 149 of this issue, Sampathkumar et al. describe using a small-molecule sugar analog to redecorate the cell surface with thiol-bearing sugars.