Synthesis of the glycan moiety of ganglioside HPG-7 with an unusual trimer of sialic acid as the inner sugar residue

Indirect synthetic route to α-l-fucosides via highly stereoselective construction of α-l-galactosides followed by C6-deoxygenation

We developed an indirect synthetic method for α-l-fucosides. Based on the fact that l-fucose is 6-deoxy-l-galactose, our strategy consists of the stereoselective construction of α-l-galactoside and its conversion to α-l-fucoside via C6-deoxygenation. The formation of α-l-galactoside is strongly directed using 4,6-O-di-tert-butylsilylene(DTBS)-protected l-galactosyl donors. The DTBS-directed α-l-galactosylation showed broad substrate applicability along with excellent coupling yield and α-selectivity. In the C6-deoxygenation of α-l-galactosides, the Barton-McCombie reaction facilitated the conversion to l-fucosides with good yield. To demonstrate the applicability of our method, we synthesized naturally occurring α-l-fucosides.

SnCl4-catalyzed solvent-free acetolysis of 2,7-anhydrosialic acid derivatives

Sialic acid-containing glycans are found in different sialic acid forms and a variety of glycosidic linkages in biologically active glycoconjugates. Hence, the preparation of suitably protected sialyl building blocks requires high attention in order to access glycans in a pure form. In line with this, various C-5-substituted 2,7-anhydrosialic acid derivatives bearing both electron-donating and -withdrawing protecting groups were synthesized and subjected to different Lewis acid-catalyzed solvent-free ring-opening reactions at room temperature in the presence of acetic anhydride. Among the various Lewis acids tested, the desired acetolysis products were obtained in moderate yields under tin(IV) chloride catalysis. Our methodology could be extended to regioselective protecting group installations and manipulations towards a number of thiosialoside and halide donors.

Synthesis of N-Glycolylneuraminic Acid (Neu5Gc) and Its Glycosides

Sialic acids constitute a family of negatively charged structurally diverse monosaccharides that are commonly presented on the termini of glycans in higher animals and some microorganisms. In addition to N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac), N-glycolyl neuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) is among the most common sialic acid forms in nature. Nevertheless, unlike most animals, human cells loss the ability to synthesize Neu5Gc although Neu5Gc-containing glycoconjugates have been found on human cancer cells and in various human tissues due to dietary incorporation of Neu5Gc. Some pathogenic bacteria also produce Neu5Ac and the corresponding glycoconjugates but Neu5Gc-producing bacteria have yet to be found. In addition to Neu5Gc, more than 20 Neu5Gc derivatives have been found in non-human vertebrates. To explore the biological roles of Neu5Gc and its naturally occurring derivatives as well as the corresponding glycans and glycoconjugates, various chemical and enzymatic synthetic methods have been developed to obtain a vast array of glycosides containing Neu5Gc and/or its derivatives. Here we provide an overview on various synthetic methods that have been developed. Among these, the application of highly efficient one-pot multienzyme (OPME) sialylation systems in synthesizing compounds containing Neu5Gc and derivatives has been proven as a powerful strategy.

Stereoselective synthesis of a 9-O-sulfo Neu5Gc-capped O-linked oligosaccharide found on the sea urchin egg receptor

The first total synthesis of a serine bearing α2→5-O_glycolyl-linked oligoNeu5Gc found on sea urchin egg cell surfaces has been accomplished.

Chemical Synthesis of Gangliosides

Various methods for the chemical synthesis of gangliosides have been investigated to date and numerous natural gangliosides and their structural analogues have been synthesized during the past three decades. Key technologies in the synthesis of gangliosides include α-selective sialylation and introduction of the ceramide moiety into the oligosaccharide chain. This chapter introduces two major strategies for ganglioside synthesis-the most commonly used strategy and the recently developed glucosylceramide cassette approach. Synthetic procedures for selected reactions are also presented.

Efficient Synthesis of the Lewis A Tandem Repeat

The convergent synthesis of the Lewis A (Le(a)) tandem repeat is described. The Le(a) tandem repeat is a carbohydrate ligand for a mannose binding protein that shows potent inhibitory activity against carcinoma growth. The Le(a) unit, {β-d-Gal-(1→3)-[α-l-Fuc-(1→4)]-β-d-GlcNAc}, was synthesized by stereoselective nitrile-assisted β-galactosylation with the phenyl 3-O-allyl-2,4,6-tri-O-benzyl-1-thio-β-galactoside, and ether-assisted α-fucosylation with fucosyl (N-phenyl)trifluoroacetimidate. This common Le(a) unit was easily converted to an acceptor and donor in high yields, and the stereoselective assembly of the hexasaccharide and dodecasaccharide as the Le(a) tandem repeat framework was achieved by 2-trichloroacetamido-assisted β-glycosylation and the (N-phenyl)trifluoroacetimidate method.

Structure-Activity Relationship Study of the Neuritogenic Potential of the Glycan of Starfish Ganglioside LLG-3 (‡)

LLG-3 is a ganglioside isolated from the starfish Linchia laevigata. To clarify the structure-activity relationship of the glycan of LLG-3 toward rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells in the presence of nerve growth factor, a series of mono- to tetrasaccharide glycan derivatives were chemically synthesized and evaluated in vitro. The methyl group at C8 of the terminal sialic acid residue was crucial for neuritogenic activity, and the terminal trisaccharide moiety was the minimum active motif. Furthermore, the trisaccharide also stimulated neuritogenesis in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells via mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling. Phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 was rapidly induced by adding 1 or 10 nM of the trisaccharide. The ratio of phosphorylated ERK to ERK reached a maximum 5 min after stimulation, and then decreased gradually. However, the trisaccharide did not induce significant Akt phosphorylation. These effects were abolished by pretreatment with the MAPK inhibitor U0126, which inhibits enzymes MEK1 and MEK2. In addition, U0126 inhibited the phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 in response to the trisaccharide dose-dependently. Therefore, we concluded that the trisaccharide promotes neurite extension in SH-SY5Y cells via MAPK/ERK signaling, not Akt signaling.

Synthetic approach toward complexity of sialic acid-containing glycans

The biological relevance of sialic acid-containing glycans (sialo-glycans) to various interactions at the cell surface has increased the demand for the supply of structurally defined sialo-glycans. Due to their unique structures, the stereoselective synthesis of glycosides of sialic acid is inherently difficult, which makes the synthetic approach to synthesize diverse and complex sialo-glycans far from successful. However, the gap between the chemical and natural synthesis of complex sialo-glycans is narrowing through the emergence of synthetic methods. This review highlights recent progress made in the synthesis of complex sialo-glycans via cutting-edge synthetic methods.

A new chemical approach to human ABO histo-blood group type 2 antigens

A new chemical approach to synthesizing human ABO histo-blood type 2 antigenic determinants was developed. N-Phthaloyl-protected lactosaminyl thioglycoside derived from lactulose via the Heyns rearrangement was employed to obtain a type 2 core disaccharide. Use of this scheme lowered the overall number of reaction steps. Stereoselective construction of the α-galactosaminide/galactoside found in A- and B-antigens, respectively, was achieved by using a unique di-tert-butylsilylene-directed α-glycosylation method. The proposed synthetic scheme provides an alternative to existing procedures for preparing ABO blood group antigens.

Glycomic strategy for efficient linkage analysis of di-, oligo- and polysialic acids

Sialic acid polymers of glycoproteins and glycolipids are characterized by a high diversity in nature and are involved in distinct biological processes depending inter alia on the glycosidic linkages between the present sialic acid residues. Though suitable protocols are available for chain length and sialic acid determination, sensitive methods for linkage analysis of di-, oligo-, and polysialic acids (di/oligo/polySia) are still pending. In this study, we have established a highly sensitive glycomic strategy for this purpose which is based on permethylation of di/oligo/polySia after tagging their reducing ends with the fluorescent dye 1,2-diamino-4,5-methylenedioxybenzene (DMB). Using DMB-labeled sialic acid di/oligo/polymers glycosidic linkages could be efficiently determined and, optionally, the established working procedure can be combined with HPLC for in depth characterization of distinct di/oligo/polySia chains. Moreover, the outlined approach can be directly applied to mammalian tissue samples and linkage analysis of sialic acid polymers present in biopsy samples of neuroblastoma tissue demonstrating the usefulness of the outlined work flow to screen, for example, cancer tissue for the presence of distinct variants of di/oligo/polySia as potentially novel biomarkers. Hence, the described strategy offers a highly sensitive and efficient strategy for identification of glycosidic linkages in sialic acid di/oligo/polymers of glycoproteins and glycolipids.

Synthesis of the disialic acid-embedded glycan part of ganglioside HPG-1

Synthesis of tetrasaccharide portion of ganglioside HPG-1 is described. The tetrasaccharide sequence, Fuc-α(1,8)-Neu5Gc-α(2,4)-Neu5Ac-α(2,6)-Glc, was successfully assembled by a linear strategy, in which the 1,5-lactamized sialyl galactose acceptor and the 8-O-Lev-N-Troc-sialic acid donor were exploited as key units.