International Journal of Molecular Sciences Review Three-Dimensional Structures of Carbohydrates and Where to Find Them Sofya I. Scherbinina 1,2,* and Philip V. Toukach 1,* 1 N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Science, Leninsky prospect 47, 119991 Moscow, Russia 2 Higher Chemical College, D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia, Miusskaya Square 9, 125047 Moscow, Russia * Correspondence:
[email protected] (S.I.S.);
[email protected] (P.V.T.) Received: 26 September 2020; Accepted: 16 October 2020; Published: 18 October 2020 Abstract: Analysis and systematization of accumulated data on carbohydrate structural diversity is a subject of great interest for structural glycobiology. Despite being a challenging task, development of computational methods for efficient treatment and management of spatial (3D) structural features of carbohydrates breaks new ground in modern glycoscience. This review is dedicated to approaches of chemo- and glyco-informatics towards 3D structural data generation, deposition and processing in regard to carbohydrates and their derivatives. Databases, molecular modeling and experimental data validation services, and structure visualization facilities developed for last five years are reviewed. Keywords: carbohydrate; spatial structure; model build; database; web-tool; glycoinformatics; structure validation; PDB glycans; structure visualization; molecular modeling 1. Introduction Knowledge of carbohydrate spatial (3D) structure is crucial for investigation of glycoconjugate biological activity [1,2], vaccine development [3,4], estimation of ligand-receptor interaction energy [5–7] studies of conformational mobility of macromolecules [8], drug design [9], studies of cell wall construction aspects [10], glycosylation processes [11], and many other aspects of carbohydrate chemistry and biology. Therefore, providing information support for carbohydrate 3D structure is vital for the development of modern glycomics and glycoproteomics.