Supramolecular glycopolymers: How carbohydrates matter in structure, dynamics, and function
Lu Su, Simone I. S. Hendrikse, E. W. Meijer
Abstract
Supramolecular glycopolymers exhibiting inherent dynamicity, tunability, and adaptivity allow us to arrive at a deeper understanding of multivalent carbohydrate-carbohydrate interactions and carbohydrate-protein interactions, both being essential to key biological events. The impacts of the carbohydrate segments in these supramolecular glycopolymers towards their structure, dynamics, and function as biomaterials are addressed in this minireview. Bottlenecks and challenges are discussed, and we speculate about possible future directions.
Topics & Concepts
Supramolecular chemistryCarbohydrateFunction (biology)NanotechnologyGlycopolymerChemistryComputational biologyBiochemistryBiologyMaterials scienceMoleculeOrganic chemistryPolymerEvolutionary biologyCopolymerCarbohydrate Chemistry and SynthesisGlycosylation and Glycoproteins ResearchSupramolecular Self-Assembly in Materials