Abstract
Carbohydrates are integral components of the stem cell niche on several levels; proteoglycans are a major constituent of the extracellular matrix (ECM) surrounding a cell, glycosoaminoglycans (GAGs) help link cells to the ECM and the neighboring cells, and small but informationally-rich oligosaccharides provide a "sugar code" that identifies each cell and provides it with unique functions. This article samples roles that glycans play in development and then describes how metabolic glycoengineering - a technique where monosaccharide analogs are introduced into the metabolic pathways of a cell and are biosynthetically incorporated into the glycocalyx - is overcoming many of the long-standing barriers to manipulating carbohydrates in living cells and tissues and is becoming an intriguing new tool for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 671-682 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews |
Volume | 62 |
Issue number | 7-8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2010 |
Keywords
- Glucosamine
- Glycan and oligosaccharide engineering
- Hexosamine-based drugs
- ManNAc analogs
- Metabolic glycoengineering
- Sialic acid
- Tissue engineering
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pharmaceutical Science