ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Chemical conjugation of biomacromolecules: A mini-review

Pavol Farkaš and Slavomír Bystrický

Institute of Chemistry, GLYCOMED Centre, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9 845 38, Bratislava, Slovakia

E-mail: chempalo@savba.sk

Abstract: Biological studies showed that assembles of biomolecules can dramatically change their physiological effectiveness. Covalent coupling of different types of biomolecules leads to novel biomacromolecules of different properties. Generally, bioconjugate chemistry opens a new dimension in biomedical and biotechnology research. In this review, some important chemical methods of bioconjugates preparation used in the practice are described. Proteins and saccharides modification methods and employment of linkers used to achieve new functionalities are discussed. Common bioconjugation methods are emphasized and novel methods from recent years are described. Except in chemistry, benefits and limits of the studied methods are outlined.

Keywords: bioconjugation - chemical ligation - coupling - glycoconjugate

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-010-0057-z

Chemical Papers 64 (6) 683–695 (2010)