Crystal Structures of Carbohydrate-active Enzymes with Potential for Practical Oligosaccharide Synthesis

Abstract

Some sugars or carbohydrates have been known to possess health-promoting functions and widely used as food additives. Glycoside Hydrolases (GHs) have been widely utilized for preparing those carbohydrate products but they basically catalyze cleavage or transfer of glycosidic bonds. Glycoside phosphorylases (GPs) and glycosynthases can efficiently catalyze elongation of glycosidic bonds and have potential for practical oligosaccharide synthesis. We have been studying structural basis of various carbohydrate-active enzymes, focusing on anomer-inverting GPs and glycosynthases. Here I review significance of the structural studies and discuss demand of high-quality protein crystallization technology in this research field.