Structural glycobiology - from enzymes to organelles.

Publisher: Portland Press On The Behalf Of The Biochemical Society Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 7506897 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1470-8752 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 03005127 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Biochem Soc Trans Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: London : Portland Press On The Behalf Of The Biochemical Society

Glycomics*/methods ; Organelles*/metabolism ; Organelles*/chemistry ; Enzymes*/metabolism ; Enzymes*/chemistry; Glycosylation ; Polysaccharides/chemistry ; Polysaccharides/metabolism ; Humans ; Animals ; Cryoelectron Microscopy

Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interest.
Biological carbohydrate polymers represent some of the most complex molecules in life, enabling their participation in a huge range of physiological functions. The complexity of biological carbohydrates arises from an extensive enzymatic repertoire involved in their construction, deconstruction and modification. Over the past decades, structural studies of carbohydrate processing enzymes have driven major insights into their mechanisms, supporting associated applications across medicine and biotechnology. Despite these successes, our understanding of how multienzyme networks function to create complex polysaccharides is still limited. Emerging techniques such as super-resolution microscopy and cryo-electron tomography are now enabling the investigation of native biological systems at near molecular resolutions. Here, we review insights from classical in vitro studies of carbohydrate processing, alongside recent in situ studies of glycosylation-related processes. While considerable technical challenges remain, the integration of molecular mechanisms with true biological context promises to transform our understanding of carbohydrate regulation, shining light upon the processes driving functional complexity in these essential biomolecules.
(© 2025 The Author(s).)

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United Kingdom WT_ Wellcome Trust; 218579/Z/19/Z United Kingdom WT_ Wellcome Trust

0 (Polysaccharides)
0 (Enzymes)

Date Created: 20250131 Date Completed: 20250131 Latest Revision: 20250630

20250630

PMC12203961

10.1042/BST20241119

39889286