Role of Cell Surface Carbohydrates in Development and Disease

Role of Cell Surface Carbohydrates in Development and Disease 

MICHIKO N. FUKUDA, TOMOYA O. AKAMA AND KAZUHIRO SUGIHARA  

In the field of reproductive biology and embryology, it has been assumed that cell surface carbohydrates play important roles (3-6). However, these hypotheses are 

Implantation and subsequent placentation is a unique mammalian form of reproduction. A fertilized mammalian egg autonomously develops into a blastocyst, which must be successfully implanted in the uterus to develop further into a fetus. Initial adhesion of the embryo to the uterus occurs via the apical cell membrane of two polarized epithelial cells, the trophoblast of blastocysts, and surface epithehal cells of the endometrium. This adhesion is unique because it is apical-apical adhesion between two epithelial cells, whereas generally apical cell surfaces of epithelia are nonadhesive. 

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Glycoconjugates are the most functionally and structurally diverse compounds in Nature and it is now well established that protein- and lipid-bound saccharides play essential roles in many molecular processes impacting eukaryotic biology and disease.Examples of such processes include fertilization, embiyogenesis, neuronal development, hormone activities, the proliferation of cells and their organization into specific tissues. Remarkable changes in the cell-surface carbohydrates occur with tumor progression, which... 

Carbohydrates play important roles in recognition of substances on the cell surface and in transduction of signals. Carbohydrates are involved closely in various diseases such as infection and cancer. For these reasons, increasing efforts have been made to conduct research for dmg development, focusing on carbohydrates in the biological body. This section will outline development of new medicines targeting carbohydrates. In addition, recent advances in... 

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