Sugars are vital to virtually all biological processes in living organisms and there is a large variety of naturally occurring sugar molecules.
Scientists have created a novel fluorogenic probe to light up the interactions in between sugars and proteins, essential for understanding numerous biological processes and illness.
Researchers at the University of Montreals Chemistry Department have produced an ingenious fluorogenic probe for evaluating interactions between proteins and sugars, 2 households of biomolecules vital to life.
The findings by teacher Samy Cecioni and his students, which open the door to a wide variety of applications, were just recently published in the prominent European journal Angewandte Chemie.
Found in all living cells
Sugar is omnipresent in our lives, present in almost all the foods we consume. However the importance of these simple carbs extends far beyond delicious desserts. Sugars are crucial to virtually all biological procedures in living organisms and there is a huge variety of naturally occurring sugar molecules.
Like sugars, lectins are discovered in all living organisms. These proteins have the unique ability to acknowledge and briefly attach themselves to sugars.” Our idea was to identify sugar particles with a chromophore, a chemical that offers a particle its color,” described Cecioni. “The chromophore is really fluorogenic, which suggests that it can become fluorescent if the binding of sugar with the lectin is effectively recorded.
” All of the cells that make up living organisms are covered in a layer of sugar-based particles called glycans,” stated Cecioni. “Sugars are for that reason on the cutting edge of practically all physiological processes and play a basic role in maintaining health and preventing illness.”
Fluorogenic “lock and secret” graphic. Credit: Cecioni Lab
” For a very long time,” he included, “scientists believed that the complicated sugars found on the surface area of cells were merely ornamental. But we now understand that these sugars engage with numerous other types of molecules, in specific with lectins, a large household of proteins.”
Driving disease, from flu to cancer
Like sugars, lectins are discovered in all living organisms. These proteins have the distinct ability to acknowledge and momentarily attach themselves to sugars. Such interactions happen in many biological procedures, such as throughout the immune response set off by an infection.
Lectins are attracting a lot of attention nowadays. This is due to the fact that scientists have found that the phenomenon of lectins “sticking” to sugars plays an essential role in the look of various diseases.
” The more we study the interactions in between lectins and sugars, the more we understand how important they remain in illness processes,” stated Cecioni. “Studies have actually shown how such interactions are included in germs colonizing our lungs, infections attacking our cells, even cancer cells deceiving our body immune system into believing theyre healthy cells.”
Hard to identify … till now
There are still many missing pieces in the puzzle of how interactions between sugars and lectins unfold due to the fact that they are so difficult to study. This is because these interactions are weak and transient, making detection a real difficulty.
Two of Cecionis trainees, masters prospect Cécile Bousch and Ph.D. prospect Brandon Vreulz, had the concept of utilizing light to identify these interactions. The 3 researchers set to work to create a sort of chemical probe efficient in “freezing” the conference in between sugar and lectin and making it visible through fluorescence.
The interaction between sugar and lectin can be explained using a “lock and secret” relationship, where the “crucial” is the sugar and the “lock” is the lectin. Chemists have actually currently developed molecules efficient in obstructing this lock-and-key interaction, and can now to identify precisely what sugars are binding to lectins of high interest to human health.
” Our concept was to label sugar molecules with a chromophore, a chemical that provides a particle its color,” discussed Cecioni. “The chromophore is actually fluorogenic, which implies that it can become fluorescent if the binding of sugar with the lectin is effectively recorded. Scientists can then study the systems underlying these interactions and the disruptions that can develop.”
Cecioni and his trainees are positive their method can be used with other types of particles. It may even be possible to manage the color of new fluorescently identified probes that are developed.
By making it possible to visualize interactions between molecules, this discovery is offering scientists a valuable brand-new tool for studying biological interactions, a number of which are critical to human health.
Reference: “Fluorogenic Photo-Crosslinking of Glycan-Binding Protein Recognition Using a Fluorinated Azido-Coumarin Fucoside” by Cécile Bousch, Brandon Vreulz, Kartikey Kansal, Ali El-Husseini and Samy Cecioni, 17 October 2023, Angewandte Chemie International Edition.DOI: 10.1002/ anie.202314248.