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Research and Development Support Agency
(Agentúra na podporu výskumu a vývoja)
APVV-51-040205
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Oligosaccharides, neoglyco-peptides/proteins and humanized plastics – their synthesis and applications
Project supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under contract no. APVV-51-040205
Principal investigator:
Tel: +421 2 59410319
FAX: +421 2 59410222
The past three decades have seen enormous stride in decoding the biorecognition
information conserved in branched oligosaccharide structures and applying the information
in pharmaceutical development. Neoglyco-peptides/proteins/plastics can be synthesized by
either chemical or enzymatic ways, which both have their advantages and disadvantages.
Chemical synthesis can introduce some unnatural oligosaccharides, while enzymatic approach
is more suited to tailor the complicated oligosaccharides on glyco-polymers. For example,
recombinant yeast fermentation technology, as in vivo enzymatic approach, provides
standardized glycoprotein libraries, and these glycoproteins can be further tailored
in vitro to final design by “cheap and stable” automated (enzymatic) sugar synthesis.
Carbohydrate vaccines have been the main focus of glycotechnology research in recent years.
But there is a lot of exciting technology possibilities in the field of carbohydrate
scientists. This project is focused on the glycotargeting of microbial cells and enveloped
viruses by glycosylated antibiotics, blocking of host – viral / host – bacterial interaction
by biospecific neoglycoproteins, and humanization of synthetic implant surface by biospecific
glycocore.
Publications:
1. Nahálka, J., Mislovičová, D. & Kavcová, H. 2009, "Targeting lectin activity into inclusion
bodies for the chracterisation of glycoproteins", Molecular BioSystems, DOI: 10.1039/b900526a
2. Nahálka, J. & Pätoprstý, V. 2009, "Enzymatic synthesis of sialylation substrates powered
by a novel polyphosphate kinase (PPK3)", Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, vol. 7, no. 9, pp. 1778-1780.
3. Mislovičová, D., Turjan, J., Vikartovská, A. & Pätoprstý, V. 2009, "Removal of d-glucose from
a mixture with d-mannose using immobilized glucose oxidase", Journal of Molecular Catalysis B: Enzymatic, vol. 60, no. 1-2, pp. 45-49.
4. Nahálka, J., Vikartovská, A. & Hrabárová, E. 2008, "A crosslinked inclusion body process for sialic
acid synthesis", Journal of Biotechnology, vol. 134, no. 1-2, pp. 146-153.
5. Nahálka, J. 2008, "Physiological aggregation of maltodextrin phosphorylase from Pyrococcus furiosus
and its application in a process of batch starch degradation to alpha-D-glucose-1-phosphate.",
Journal of industrial microbiology & biotechnology, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 219-223.
6. Nahálka, J., Shao, J. & Gemeiner, P. 2007, "Oligosaccharides, neoglycoproteins and humanized plastics:
Their biocatalytic synthesis and possible medical applications", Biotechnology and applied biochemistry,
vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 1-12.
Figure 1.
Glycobiotechnology. Schematic view on biocatalytic synthesis of various glycostructures and their proposed medical applications. From the top: high-energy phosphate bonds are formed at high temperatures, then they are transferred to nucleotides, subsequently the nucleotides are transferred to monosaccharides and finally the monosaccharides are transferred by glycosyltransferases to specific acceptors. Antimicrobial peptides, glycosylated in this way, could be used for targeting of bacterial or viral membranes. No less interesting is preparation of defined glycostructures on surface of plastic implants.