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Biological roles of glycans
Simple and complex carbohydrates (glycans) have long been known to play major metabolic, structural and physical roles in biological systems. Targeted microbial binding to host glycans has also been studied for decades. But such biological roles can only explain some of the remarkable complexity and...
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Oxford University Press
2017
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5884436/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27558841 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/glycob/cww086 |
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author | Varki, Ajit |
author_facet | Varki, Ajit |
author_sort | Varki, Ajit |
collection | PubMed |
description | Simple and complex carbohydrates (glycans) have long been known to play major metabolic, structural and physical roles in biological systems. Targeted microbial binding to host glycans has also been studied for decades. But such biological roles can only explain some of the remarkable complexity and organismal diversity of glycans in nature. Reviewing the subject about two decades ago, one could find very few clear-cut instances of glycan-recognition-specific biological roles of glycans that were of intrinsic value to the organism expressing them. In striking contrast there is now a profusion of examples, such that this updated review cannot be comprehensive. Instead, a historical overview is presented, broad principles outlined and a few examples cited, representing diverse types of roles, mediated by various glycan classes, in different evolutionary lineages. What remains unchanged is the fact that while all theories regarding biological roles of glycans are supported by compelling evidence, exceptions to each can be found. In retrospect, this is not surprising. Complex and diverse glycans appear to be ubiquitous to all cells in nature, and essential to all life forms. Thus, >3 billion years of evolution consistently generated organisms that use these molecules for many key biological roles, even while sometimes coopting them for minor functions. In this respect, glycans are no different from other major macromolecular building blocks of life (nucleic acids, proteins and lipids), simply more rapidly evolving and complex. It is time for the diverse functional roles of glycans to be fully incorporated into the mainstream of biological sciences. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5884436 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2017 |
publisher | Oxford University Press |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-58844362018-04-09 Biological roles of glycans Varki, Ajit Glycobiology Special Invited Review Simple and complex carbohydrates (glycans) have long been known to play major metabolic, structural and physical roles in biological systems. Targeted microbial binding to host glycans has also been studied for decades. But such biological roles can only explain some of the remarkable complexity and organismal diversity of glycans in nature. Reviewing the subject about two decades ago, one could find very few clear-cut instances of glycan-recognition-specific biological roles of glycans that were of intrinsic value to the organism expressing them. In striking contrast there is now a profusion of examples, such that this updated review cannot be comprehensive. Instead, a historical overview is presented, broad principles outlined and a few examples cited, representing diverse types of roles, mediated by various glycan classes, in different evolutionary lineages. What remains unchanged is the fact that while all theories regarding biological roles of glycans are supported by compelling evidence, exceptions to each can be found. In retrospect, this is not surprising. Complex and diverse glycans appear to be ubiquitous to all cells in nature, and essential to all life forms. Thus, >3 billion years of evolution consistently generated organisms that use these molecules for many key biological roles, even while sometimes coopting them for minor functions. In this respect, glycans are no different from other major macromolecular building blocks of life (nucleic acids, proteins and lipids), simply more rapidly evolving and complex. It is time for the diverse functional roles of glycans to be fully incorporated into the mainstream of biological sciences. Oxford University Press 2017-01-01 2016-12-28 /pmc/articles/PMC5884436/ /pubmed/27558841 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/glycob/cww086 Text en © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic or until permissions are revoked in writing. Upon expiration of these permissions, PMC is granted a perpetual license to make this article available via PMC and Europe PMC, consistent with existing copyright protections. |
spellingShingle | Special Invited Review Varki, Ajit Biological roles of glycans |
title | Biological roles of glycans |
title_full | Biological roles of glycans |
title_fullStr | Biological roles of glycans |
title_full_unstemmed | Biological roles of glycans |
title_short | Biological roles of glycans |
title_sort | biological roles of glycans |
topic | Special Invited Review |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5884436/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27558841 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/glycob/cww086 |
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