Design and synthesis of carbohydrate-based inhibitors of protein-carbohydrate interactions.

Our understanding of carbohydrate-protein interactions has significantly advanced over the past two years. In particular, a healthy amount of literature has appeared on selectins and their relevant ligands. A significant number of carbohydrate-metabolizing enzyme crystal structures have been solved which provide useful starting points for computer-assisted drug design. Some of these proteins have been implicated either directly or indirectly in playing roles in human-disease states, for example, in inflammation, in diabetes and its complications, and in microorganism-induced diseases such as influenza and cholera.