Molecular simulations of complex carbohydrates and glycoconjugates. 2022

Elisa Fadda
Department of Chemistry and Hamilton Institute, Maynooth University, Ireland. Electronic address: elisa.fadda@mu.ie.

Complex carbohydrates (glycans) are the most abundant and versatile biopolymers in nature. The broad diversity of biochemical functions that carbohydrates cover is a direct consequence of the variety of 3D architectures they can adopt, displaying branched or linear arrangements, widely ranging in sizes, and with the highest diversity of building blocks of any other natural biopolymer. Despite this unparalleled complexity, a common denominator can be found in the glycans' inherent flexibility, which hinders experimental characterization, but that can be addressed by high-performance computing (HPC)-based molecular simulations. In this short review, I present and discuss the state-of-the-art of molecular simulations of complex carbohydrates and glycoconjugates, highlighting methodological strengths and weaknesses, important insights through emblematic case studies, and suggesting perspectives for future developments.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D011134 Polysaccharides Long chain polymeric CARBOHYDRATES composed of MONOSACCHARIDES linked by glycosidic bonds. Glycan,Glycans,Polysaccharide
D002241 Carbohydrates A class of organic compounds composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in a ratio of Cn(H2O)n. The largest class of organic compounds, including STARCH; GLYCOGEN; CELLULOSE; POLYSACCHARIDES; and simple MONOSACCHARIDES. Carbohydrate
D006001 Glycoconjugates Carbohydrates covalently linked to a nonsugar moiety (lipids or proteins). The major glycoconjugates are glycoproteins, glycopeptides, peptidoglycans, glycolipids, and lipopolysaccharides. (From Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2d ed; From Principles of Biochemistry, 2d ed) Glycoconjugate

Related Publications

Elisa Fadda
December 2004, Current opinion in biotechnology,
Elisa Fadda
November 2021, International journal of molecular sciences,
Elisa Fadda
October 1996, Current opinion in structural biology,
Elisa Fadda
October 1995, Current opinion in structural biology,
Elisa Fadda
October 1995, Current opinion in structural biology,
Elisa Fadda
October 1997, Current opinion in structural biology,
Elisa Fadda
October 1997, Current opinion in structural biology,
Elisa Fadda
October 1998, Current opinion in structural biology,
Elisa Fadda
November 2016, Organic & biomolecular chemistry,
Copied contents to your clipboard!