molecules Review Multivalent Carbohydrate-Lectin Interactions: How Synthetic Chemistry Enables Insights into Nanometric Recognition René Roy 1,*, Paul V. Murphy 2 and Hans-Joachim Gabius 3 1 Pharmaqam and Nanoqam, Department of Chemistry, University du Québec à Montréal, P. O. Box 8888, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3P8, Canada 2 School of Chemistry, National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland;
[email protected] 3 Institute of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Veterinärstr. 13, München 80539, Germany;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +1-514-987-3000 (ext. 2546) Academic Editor: Trinidad Velasco-Torrijos Received: 7 April 2016; Accepted: 10 May 2016; Published: 13 May 2016 Abstract: Glycan recognition by sugar receptors (lectins) is intimately involved in many aspects of cell physiology. However, the factors explaining the exquisite selectivity of their functional pairing are not yet fully understood. Studies toward this aim will also help appraise the potential for lectin-directed drug design. With the network of adhesion/growth-regulatory galectins as therapeutic targets, the strategy to recruit synthetic chemistry to systematically elucidate structure-activity relationships is outlined, from monovalent compounds to glyco-clusters and glycodendrimers to biomimetic surfaces. The versatility of the synthetic procedures enables to take examining structural and spatial parameters, alone and in combination, to its limits, for example with the aim to produce inhibitors for distinct galectin(s) that exhibit minimal reactivity to other members of this group. Shaping spatial architectures similar to glycoconjugate aggregates, microdomains or vesicles provides attractive tools to disclose the often still hidden significance of nanometric aspects of the different modes of lectin design (sequence divergence at the lectin site, differences of spatial type of lectin-site presentation).