I was wondering if there are any commercially available inhibitors of
terminal
glycosyltransferases (specifically sialyltransferase and
galactosyltransferase).
In particular, I am interested in agents which can be used to treat cells
in
order to subtly alter their protein glycosylation patterns. I have tried
mannosidase inhibitors, but these act at an early stage in oligosaccharide
elongation and processing to prevent the transfer of a number of terminal
sugar
residues, so it is difficult to attribute any changes in protein function
that
are observed to individual sugar residues.
Kieran Breen, Dept. of Pharmacology,
University of Dundee,
Ninewells Hospital & Medical School,
Dundee DD1 9SY,Scotland, U.K.
