Despite the fundamental roles of sialyl- and fucosyltransferases in mammalian physiology, there are few pharmacological tools to manipulate their function in a cellular setting. Although fluorinated analogs of the donor substrates are well-established transition state inhibitors of these enzymes, they are not membrane permeable. By exploiting promiscuous monosaccharide salvage pathways, we show that fluorinated analogs of sialic acid and fucose can be taken up and metabolized to the desired donor substrate-based inhibitors inside the cell. Due to the existence of metabolic feedback loops, they also act to prevent the de novo synthesis of the natural substrates, resulting in a global, family-wide shutdown of sialyl- and/or fucosyltransferases and remodeling of cell surface glycans. As an example of the functional consequences, the inhibitors drastically reduce expression of the sialylated and fucosylated ligand Sialyl Lewis X on myeloid cells, resulting in loss of binding to selectins and impaired leukocyte rolling.

In the last decade glycan microarrays have revolutionized the analysis of the specificity of glycan binding proteins, providing information that simultaneously illuminates the biology mediated by them and decodes the information content of the glycome. Numerous methods have emerged for arraying glycans in a ‘chip’ format, and glycan libraries have been assembled that address the diversity of the human glycome. Such arrays have been successfully used for analysis of glycan binding proteins that mediate mammalian biology, host-pathogen interactions, immune recognition of glycans relevant to vaccine production and cancer antigens. This review covers the development of glycan microarrays and applications that have provided insights into the roles of mammalian and microbial glycan binding proteins.

Mutations disabling the TP53 tumour suppressor gene represent the most frequent events in human cancer and typically occur through a two-hit mechanism involving a missense mutation in one allele and a ‘loss of heterozygosity’ deletion encompassing the other. While TP53 missense mutations can also contribute gain-of-function activities that impact tumour progression, it remains unclear whether the deletion event, which frequently includes many genes, impacts tumorigenesis beyond TP53 loss alone. Here we show that somatic heterozygous deletion of mouse chromosome 11B3, a 4-megabase region syntenic to human 17p13.1, produces a greater effect on lymphoma and leukaemia development than Trp53 deletion. Mechanistically, the effect of 11B3 loss on tumorigenesis involves co-deleted genes such as Eif5a and Alox15b (also known as Alox8), the suppression of which cooperates with Trp53 loss to produce more aggressive disease. Our results imply that the selective advantage produced by human chromosome 17p deletion reflects the combined impact of TP53 loss and the reduced dosage of linked tumour suppressor genes.

Click ‘n’ chips: Azide and alkyne‐bearing sialic acids (purple diamond; see picture) were subjected to high‐throughput click chemistry to generate a library of sialic acid analogues. Microarray printing of the library and screening with the siglec family of sialic‐acid‐binding proteins, led to the identification of high‐affinity ligands for siglec‐9 and siglec‐10.

The siglec family of sialic acid-binding proteins are endocytic immune cell receptors that are recognized as potential targets for cell directed therapies. CD33 and CD22 are prototypical members and are validated candidates for targeting acute myeloid leukaemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas due to their restricted expression on myeloid cells and B-cells, respectively. While nanoparticles decorated with high affinity siglec ligands represent an attractive platform for delivery of therapeutic agents to these cells, a lack of ligands with suitable affinity and/or selectivity has hampered progress. Herein we describe selective ligands for both of these siglecs, which when displayed on liposomal nanoparticles, can efficiently target the cells expressing them in peripheral human blood. Key to their identification was the development of a facile method for chemo-enzymatic synthesis of disubstituted sialic acid analogues, combined with iterative rounds of synthesis and rapid functional analysis using glycan microarrays.

CD22 is a B cell specific sialic-acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin (Siglec) whose function as a regulator of B cell signaling is modulated by its interaction with glycan ligands bearing the sequence NeuAcα2-6Gal. To date, only highly multivalent polymeric ligands (n=450) have achieved sufficient avidity to bind to CD22 on native B cells. Here we demonstrate that a synthetic bi-functional molecule comprising a ligand of CD22 linked to an antigen (nitrophenol; NP) can use a monoclonal anti-NPIgM as a decavalent protein scaffold to efficiently drive assembly of IgM-CD22 complexes on the surface of native B cells. Surprisingly, anti-NP antibodies of lower valency, IgA (n =4) and IgG (n =2), were also found to drive complex formation, though with lower avidity. Ligands bearing alternate linkers of variable length and structure were constructed to establish the importance of a minimal length requirement, and versatility in the structural requirement. We show that the ligand drives assembly of IgM complexes exclusively on the surface of B cells and not other classes of white blood cells that do not express CD22, which lends itself to the possibility of targeting B cells in certain hematopoietic malignancies.

Background:In vivo pharmacological inhibition of sialyltransferases has, to date, not been possible. Results: 3F-NeuAc acts as a global sialyltransferase inhibitor in mice and causes kidney and liver dysfunction. Conclusion: Sialoside expression can be modulated in vivo with a sialyltransferase inhibitor. Significance: Pharmacological blockade of sialoside expression will be an important tool for future exploration of sialic acid in health and disease.

The Siglec family of sialic acid-binding proteins are differentially expressed on white blood cells of the immune system and represent an attractive class of targets for cell-directed therapy. Nanoparticles decorated with high-affinity Siglec ligands show promise for delivering cargo to Siglec-bearing cells, but this approach has been limited by a lack of ligands with suitable affinity and selectivity. Building on previous work employing solution-phase sialoside library synthesis and subsequent microarray screening, we herein report a more streamlined ‘on-chip’ synthetic approach. By printing a small library of alkyne sialosides and subjecting these to ‘on-chip’ click reactions, the largest sialoside analog library to date was generated. Siglec-screening identified a selective Siglec-7 ligand, which when displayed on liposomal nanoparticles, allows for targeting of Siglec-7+ cells in peripheral human blood. In silico docking to the crystal structure of Siglec-7 provides a rational for the affinity gains observed for this novel sialic acid analog.