The structural complexity and the synthetic challenges facing glycans have historically hampered efforts to study their multifaceted roles and the application of carbohydrates in drug development. However, in very recent years, new synthetic techniques flanked by the growing knowledge about carbohydrate involvement in physiological and pathological states has spurred renewed interest in the chemistry, biology and therapeutic potentialities of carbohydrates. This book offers an overview of key aspects of carbohydrate biology and chemistry that are fundamental for the design of novel therapeutics. The four-part structure of this book introduces these essential components to life, starting from their structure and biological roles and covering analytical methods and synthesis which pave the way for the development of a wide range of therapeutic applications.Leading experts from around the world are brought together to offer their recent research with the ultimate aim of enlightening the reader on the complex yet exciting field of carbohydrate chemistry. Academic and industrial researchers in structural biology, drug discovery and carbohydrate chemistry will find this book an essential guide to the latest research and future potential of medicinal chemistry.

Integrates the latest advances in polysaccharide chemistry and structure analysis, with the practical applications of polysaccharides in medicine and pharmacy, highlighting the role of glycoconjugates in basic biological processes and immunology. It also presents recent developments in glycobiology and glycopathology. The work covers bacterial, fungal and cell-wall polysaccharides, microbial and bacterial exopolysaccharides, industrial gums, the biosynthesis of bacterial polysaccharides, and the production of microbial polysaccharides.

The current understanding of cholesterol transport has moved from a largely descriptive science into the molecular stage. Intracellular Cholesterol Trafficking reports on the current state of research and features sections on: The Regulation of ACAT and Intracellular Cholesterol Level Niemann-Pick Type C Disease Cholesterol Transport in Specialized Cells Sterol Carrier Protein-2 and Cholesterol Transport Proteins Caveolae and Caveolin Summary and Future Perspectives . Intracellular Cholesterol Trafficking is sure to appeal to cell biologists, biochemists, endocrinologists, hepatologists, and atherosclerosis researchers.

Dealing with the latest information on polysaccharide gum research, particularly focused on gum Arabic, as discussed at the World Conference on "New developments in Acacia Gums Research and Products", this book covers the production, identification, classification and application of these important carbohydrate polymers. Written by the world's leading experts in the field, it will be an essential reference for researchers in industry and academia interested in the continued advances in this area.

The investigation of indoor air quality has shown that microbial contamination is often a problem in buildings. Recent evidence indicates that fungi are often a part of the picture. A component of the fungal cell wall, 1 (R)3-ss-glucans not only affect human health, they are a marker for the existence of fungi in environmental samples. Toxicology of 1 (R)3-ss-Glucans covers the basic chemistry and immunobiology of these substances. The authors begin by introducing current methods for detecting 1 (R)3-ss-glucans in environmental samples and reviewing risk evaluation in the environment. They go on to discuss numerous topics including likely occupational and environmental exposure, studies suggesting a strong link between environmental glucan concentrations and pulmonary inflammation, and signal transduction pathways and specific receptors. No other book currently available brings together the expertise of leading international researchers to provide a straightforward monograph on the toxicology of 1 (R)3-ss-glucans. It pulls together current knowledge of these compounds, their effects, measurement, monitoring, and risk assessment.

Published in 1975: This volume contains the completed section of the Handbook of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with data pertaining to Lipids, Carbohydrates, and Steroids.

Carbohydrate bioengineering is a rapidly expanding field with many applications in medicine and industry. Presenting state-of-the-art research, Carbohydrate Bioengineering: Interdisciplinary Approaches brings together international experts on many different aspects of this burgeoning topic. Coverage includes: the engineering of glycosidases for constructive purposes; structure-function studies and protein engineering of carbohydrate-active enzymes; chemo-enzymatic carbohydrate synthesis; and trends emerging from comprehensive work on genomes and glycomes. This timely publication will be welcomed by all those needing access to the latest research in the field, including practitioners in the medicinal, chemical, food and pharmaceutical areas.

Starch, in its many forms, provides an essential food energy source for the world's human population. It is therefore vital for manufacturers (and ultimately consumers) to have increased understanding of the granule synthesis and its behaviour in modern food processing. Starch: Advances in Structure and Function documents the latest research and opinion on starch structure and its function as a food material, including structure characterisation, processing and ingredient functionality, and control of starch biosynthesis. The multi-disciplinary nature of the contents will provide a valuable reference for biologists, chemists, food technologists, geneticists, nutritionists and physicists.

"Explores the effects of complex carbohydrates (starch, gums, and dietary fibers) on human physiological function and establishes an appropriate dietary intake level for inclusion on nutritional labels. Addresses current research, applications, and implementation issues."

Since their discovery over 60 years ago, eicosanoids have come to represent a diverse family of bioactive lipid modulators, including prostaglandins, thromboxanes, leukotrienes, lipoxins, isoprostanes, hepoxilins, hydroxy acids, epoxy and hydroxy fatty acids. This book contains conference presentations regarding the regulation of eicosanoid enzymes and, in particular, cyclooxygenases, lipoxygenases, and phospholipases. In addition, the latest evidence over the last seven years has led to the identification of a number of receptors for these bioactive lipids. The new field of isoprostanes is also represented. It has become increasingly evident that eicosanoids play a critical role in signal transduction, both in normal cells and in pathological processes. These aspects are discussed in relation to cellular events, such as apoptosis, angiogenesis, and cancer prevention and treatment.

Bioactive Carbohydrate Polymers is probably the first book dealing with the latest in the field of polysaccharides and related products and their biological activities, especially the immunological effects. The different chapters describe the structure and bioactivity of polysaccharides from plants used in traditional medicine in different parts of the world, especially China, Japan and Europe. The focus of the book is on immunologically active plant and seaweed polysaccharides, pharmacological activities of sulphated polysaccharides of animal and seaweed origin, and on possible activities of polysaccharides in our food. Methods for isolation and characterisation of the polymers with chemical and enzymatic methods is covered, as well as discussions on the different biological test-systems and the information they provide. This book will be useful to scientists and postgraduate students working with polysaccharides and their possible uses, and should be of interest for people working in the areas of chemistry, biology, pharmacy and medicine.

Volumes in the Proven Synthetic Methods Series address the concerns many chemists have regarding irreproducibility of synthetic protocols, lack of characterization data for new compounds, and inflated yields reported in chemical communications-trends that have recently become a serious problem. Featuring contributions from world-renowned experts and overseen by a highly respected series editor, Carbohydrate Chemistry: Proven Synthetic Methods, Volume 3 compiles reliable protocols for the preparation of intermediates for carbohydrate synthesis or other uses in the glycosciences. Exploring carbohydrate chemistry from both the academic and industrial points of view, this unique resource brings together useful information into one convenient reference. To ensure reproducibility, an independent checker has verified the experimental parts involved by repeating the protocols or using the methods. The book includes new or more detailed versions of previously published protocols as well as those published in not readily available journals. The essential characteristics of the protocols presented are reliability and the expectation of wide utility in the carbohydrate field. The protocols presented will be of wide use to a wide range of readers in the carbohydrate field, including undergraduates taking carbohydrate workshops.

This book reviews the evidence supporting the influence of plant fibers on our daily life by either having impacts on our nutrition or improving processed foods for human and animal feeding. By bringing new information and updating existing scientific data, this book will also be a consistent source of information for both professional and non-professionals that are involved in food science and technology, nutrition, and even medical sciences related to human health and well-being.

Polysaccharides and their related compounds are attracting much attention because of their potential for the applications as new functional materials in many research field such as medicines, pharmaceutics, foods, and cosmetics. Therefore, precision synthesis of new polysaccharides with well-defined structure is being increasingly important. For this purpose, enzymatic method is a very powerful tool because the reaction proceeds with highly stereo- and regiocontrolled manners. This book focuses on advances in the practical synthesis of polysaccharides by the phosphorylase-catalyzed chain-elongation on the basis of the viewpoint of polysaccharide engineering.

Recent Trends in Carbohydrate Chemistry: Synthesis and Biomedical Applications of Glycans and Glycoconjugates covers biomedically relevant bacterial cell wall carbohydrates including recent findings on biosynthetic aspects, advances in the chemical assembly of bacterial lipopolysaccharide fragments and teichoic acids, and modern NMR approaches to unravel structural details. The first part introduces and provides the relevant background for synthetic glycoconjugate vaccines. The second section focuses on synthetic carbohydrate-based vaccines of therapeutic potential that are licensed or under development. This second volume of Recent Trends in Carbohydrate Chemistry is ideal for researchers working as synthetic organic chemists, as well as those interested in glycoconjugation, protein chemists, immunologists, and microbiologists, in academia as well as in industry.

Due to the significant contributions of carbohydrates to the functional diversity of the cell, the challenging study of the glycome has expanded beyond the research of carbohydrate experts and into the wider scope of the life sciences. To aid all scientists now delving into this vital subject area, Glycomics: Methods and Protocols collects a compendium of detailed laboratory protocols reflecting the increasing availability of sample preparation, chromatographic, electrophoretic, mass spectrometric, and bioinformatic tools specifically designed for the analysis of glycosylation. Leading researchers in the field address subjects such as glycoprotein and proteoglycan analysis, glycosylation structure determination, as well as various approaches to investigate the interaction between glycans and a variety of carbohydrate-recognizing proteins in order to aid exploration into the functional significance of the oligosaccharides. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series format, the chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Glycomics: Methods and Protocols serves as a valuable guide for experimenters facing the challenges of glycan analysis in hope of providing further insights into the biology of cell-cell communication and interaction.

Completely revised and expanded to reflect the latest advancements in the field, Polysaccharides: Structural Diversity and Functional Versatility, Second Edition outlines fundamental concepts in the structure, function, chemistry, and stability of polysaccharides and reveals new analytical techniques and applications currently impacting the cosmetic, medicinal, chemical, and biochemical industries. The authoritative book discusses polysaccharides utilized in medical applications such as polysaccharide-based hydrogels, polysialic acids, proteoglycans, glycolipids, and anticoagulant polysaccharides; renewable resources for the production of various industrial chemicals and engineering plastics polysaccharides; and more.

This work covers methodologies for plant and animal glycoconjugate analysis. It details mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, glycolipids and new physical methods, o-glycosylation characterization, chromophore and fluorophore labelling of oligosaccharides, separations, exoglycosidases and mapping, and plant glycobiology.

The 15th International Symposium on Plant Lipids was held in Okazaki, Japan, in May 12th to 17th, 2002, at the Okazaki Conference Center. The Symposium was organized by the Japanese Organizing Committee with the cooperation of the Japanese Association of Plant Lipid Researchers. The International Symposium was successful with 225 participants from 29 countries. We acknowledge a large number of participants from Asian countries, in particular, from China, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines, presumably because this was the fIrst time that the International Symposium on Plant Lipids was held in Asia. We also acknowledge a number of scientists from Canada, France, Germany, UK and USA, where plant lipid research is traditionally very active. The Symposium provided an opportunity for presentation and discussion of 68 lectures and 93 posters in 11 scientific sessions, which together covered all aspects of plant lipid researches, such as the structure, analysis, biosynthesis, regulation, physiological function, environmental aspects, and the biotechnology of plant lipids. In memory of the founder of this series of symposia, the Terry Galliard Lecture was delivered by Professor Ernst Heinz from Universitat: Hamburg, Germany. In addition, special lectures were given by two outstanding scientists from animal lipid fields, Professor James Ntambi from University of Wisconsin, USA, and Dr. Masahiro Nishijima from the National Institute for Infectious Diseases, Japan. To our great honor and pleasure, the session of Lipid Biosynthesis was chaired by Dr.

Detailing commonly used methods and procedures, this reference discusses the reactions and derivative forms of carbohydrates. Preparative Carbohydrate Chemistry covers the formation, cleavage, and reactions of derivatives and illustrates bond-forming reactions of SN2 types, free radicals, chain extensions, and branching. The contents include: sugar derivatives; selected reactions in carbohydrate chemistry; chemical synthesis of oligosaccharides and O-and N -glycosyl compounds; enzymatic synthesis of sialic acid, KDO, and related deoxyulosonic acids, and of oligosaccharides; synthesis of -glycosyl compounds; carbocycles from carbohydrates; and total synthesis of sugars from non-sugars. This authoritative reference offers relevant chapters on reactions and derivative forms of carbohydrates, including commonly used methods as well as new experimental procedures. It also contains insightful chapter commentaries and succinct topic histories.

This book provides an essential overview of the science of polysaccharides. It both approaches polysaccharides as a polymer class and provides detailed descriptions of most major polysaccharides (cellulose, mannan, xylan, chitin-chitosan, cyclodextrines). Owing to the multidisciplinary character of the European Polysaccharide Network of Excellence (EPNOE), the book describes all main aspects of polysaccharide science and technology (biology, enzymology, physics, chemistry, materials science and processing). Notations and concepts follow a uniform format throughout the whole work in order to create a valuable reference book on the field of polysaccharide science. Owing to the major importance of industry in the EPNOE, concrete applications are also described in detail.

bacterial carbohydrate recognition are conveyed, covering Gram-positive as well as Gram-negative bacteria, in Chapter 4 Streptococci and Staphylococci, and in Chapter 5, carbohydrate binding specificities of Helicobacter pylori. In Chapter 6, "Bitter sweetness of complexity," the collected reflections on mic- bial adhesion are expanded by a perspective on a broader impact of glycosylation on cellular adhesion, motility and regulatory processes, paralleling the complexity of N-glycan structures on cell surfaces. It highlights particularly how structural details of N-glycans have been causally related to pathological scenarios, with a focus on ?(1,6)-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase. In the final chapter, biofilm formation is reviewed, covering knowledge about structure and biosynthesis of polysaccharide intercellular adhesins (PIAs) which are central to biofilm formation. This comprehensive chapter explains all PIA-related principles of medical device-associated infections. It is our hope, that this collection of expert articles, ranging from structural ch- istry and structural biology to biochemistry and medicine, will be a stimulation and motivation for our colleagues in the life sciences. At the same time, we hope that these reflections on microbial adhesion will awake interest in and promote und- standing of the complex processes associated with the glycocalyx and the multif- eted interactions between the host cell and its "guest," as well as the biological consequences resulting from this mutual interplay.

Over the past four decades, there has been immense progress in every area of lignin science, ranging from the enzymology of lignin biodegradation, to the delignification of wood fiber during pulping and bleaching, to advances in spectroscopy. Lignin and Lignans: Advances in Chemistry captures the developments that have been achieved by world-class scientists in the most critical aspects of this burgeoning field. Tools for the characterization of lignin and lignans After an overview of the topic, the book discusses the significance and comparative performances of the most commonly used chemical degradation methods and presents lignin structural information based on the use of these methods. Next, the book explores spectroscopic methods, including UV-visible absorption, fluorescence, Raman, infra red (IR), near-infrared (NIR), nuclear magenetic resonance (NMR), and heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy. It then compares the results of studies of lignin in situ with studies of isolated lignins. Predicting reactivity The authors discuss polymer properties related to thermal stability and molecular motion of lignin in the solid state. They describe applications of electronic structure calculations to the chemistry of lignin, and they explore lignin reactions that occur during the chemical pulping of wood by soda, kraft, AQ, and polysulfide processes. Chemistry associated with industrial processes The book describes chemical pulp bleaching, oxidative and reductive lignin-retaining bleaching, and lignin biodegradation. It also examines the application of microorganisms and the enzymes they produce in the manufacturing of chemical and mechanical pulp. The book closes with chapters on photodegradation and chromophore formation and the pharmacological properties of lignans. Highlighting significant developments on selected topics, this essential reference for those in industry and academia is designed to fuel further research and discovery in this specialized area, especially in the emerging field of biorefining.

This brief explores polysaccharides, the most abundant family of naturally occurring polymers, and explains how they have gained considerable attention in recent decades as a source of innovative bio-based materials. The authors present a range of material including an extensive array of polysaccharide hybrid nanomaterials with distinct applications. The most recent knowledge regarding polysaccharide-based hybrid nanomaterials with metal and metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs), carbon nanotubes and graphene is presented as well as the main polysaccharides, namely cellulose, chitin and chitosan, starch and their most relevant derivatives. The book features a description of important production methodologies, properties, and applications of these types of hybrids.

This book explores the use of various plant polysaccharides for pharmaceutical purposes, including drug delivery. It examines the exploitation of plant polysaccharides' auxiliary functions to enhance drug release, stability, bioavailability and target specificity. Plant-derived materials are at the center of drug-delivery research thanks to their non-toxicity, biodegradability, ready availability, eco-friendliness and low extraction costs. These materials include polysaccharides, a class of naturally occurring polymers consisting of glucose monomers, which serve as storage carbohydrates in cereals, root vegetables, rhizomes, seeds, fruits, etc.