[The role of fucosylation of glycoconjugates in health and disease]

Abstract

Fucose is a deoxyhexose that is present in the L-configuration of many N- and O-linked oligosaccharide structures of membrane as well as soluble glycoproteins and glycolipids produced by mammalian cells. The fucose molecule is present in ABH blood group antigens and in some oligosaccharide structures belonging to the Lewis(x), Lewis(y), Lewis(a), and Lewis(b) antigens. Characteristic of fucose is its almost exclusive presence at a terminal position, i.e. not inserted in an oligosaccharide chain. Fucose can be alpha 1,2, alpha 1,3, alpha 1,4, and alpha 1,6 linked to the glycans of glycoconjugates. This predisposes fucose to play a crucial role in biological recognition events, such as cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. In the present review the influence of fucose on the properties and biological functions of glycoproteins is described. The state of current knowledge on the role of fucosylglycotopes, fucose-containing glycans, in many physiological processes, such as fertilization, embryogenesis, fetal development, neuron transmission, leukocytes adhesion, signal transduction, and apoptosis, as well as in diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, cystic fibrosis, peptic ulcer disease, inflammatory process, and cancer, is summarized. Finally, some examples of changes in fucose expression and its possible determination as a marker for diseases diagnosis and monitoring are shown.