Department of Chemistry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Muthgasse 18, A-1190 Vienna, Austria.
Biol Chem. 2012 Aug;393(8):675-85. doi: 10.1515/hsz-2012-0132.
A methyl (Me) group on a sugar residue is a rarely reported event. Until now, this type of modification has been found in the animal kingdom only in worms and molluscs, whereas it is more frequently present in some species of bacteria, fungi, algae and plants, but not in mammals. The monosaccharides involved as well as the positions of the Me groups on the sugar vary with species. Methylation appears to play a role in some recognition events, but details are still unknown. This review summarises the current knowledge on methylation of sugars in all types of organism.
糖残基上的甲基(Me)基团是一种罕见的现象。到目前为止,这种类型的修饰仅在动物王国中的蠕虫和软体动物中发现,而在某些细菌、真菌、藻类和植物中更为常见,但在哺乳动物中则不存在。涉及的单糖以及糖上 Me 基团的位置因物种而异。甲基化似乎在某些识别事件中发挥作用,但具体细节仍不清楚。这篇综述总结了目前关于所有类型生物体中糖甲基化的知识。