Glycans in Medicinal Chemistry: An Underexploited Resource.

The biological relevance of glycans as mediators of key physiological processes, including disease-related mechanisms, makes them attractive targets for a wide range of medical applications. Despite their important biological roles, especially as molecular recognition elements, carbohydrates have not been fully exploited as therapeutics mainly due to the scarcity of structure-activity correlations and their non-drug-like properties. A more detailed understanding of the complex carbohydrate structures and their associated functions should contribute to the development of new glycan-based pharmaceuticals. Recent significant progress in oligosaccharide synthesis and chemical glycobiology has renewed the interest of the medicinal chemistry community in carbohydrates. This promises to increase our possibilities to harness them in drug discovery efforts for the development of new and more effective, synthetic glycan-based therapeutics and vaccines.