Glycobiology Advance Access published online on May 22, 2008
Glycobiology, doi:10.1093/glycob/cwn041
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Review |
Covalent Inhibitors of Glycosidases and Their Applications in Biochemistry and Biology
Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z3 Canada
1 Author to whom correspondence should be addressed, Tel: 604-822-3402, Fax: 604-822-8869, e-mail: withers{at}chem.ubc.ca
Received on January 30, 2008; accepted on May 12, 2008
Glycoside hydrolases are important enzymes in a number of essential biological processes. Irreversible inhibitors of this class of enzyme have attracted interest as probes of both structure and function. In this review we discuss some of the compounds used to covalently modify glycosidases, their use in residue identification, structural and mechanistic investigations and finally their applications, both in vitro and in vivo, to complex biological systems.
Key words: Glycoside Hydrolase / Affinity Label / Mechanism-Based Inactivator