Imaging single glycans

Autor: Tomasz Michnowicz, Sabine Abb, Marcel Pristl, Alonso Pardo-Vargas, Klaus Kern, Stephan Rauschenbach, Xu Wu, Peter H. Seeberger, Martina Delbianco, Priya Bharate, Kelvin Anggara, Suman Sen, Uta Schlickum
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2362-1
Popis: Imaging of biomolecules guides our understanding of their diverse structures and functions1,2. Real-space imaging at sub-nanometre resolution using cryo-electron microscopy has provided key insights into proteins and their assemblies3,4. Direct molecular imaging of glycans—the predominant biopolymers on Earth, with a plethora of structural and biological functions5—has not been possible so far6. The inherent glycan complexity and backbone flexibility require single-molecule approaches for real-space imaging. At present, glycan characterization often relies on a combination of mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging to provide insights into size, sequence, branching and connectivity, and therefore requires structure reconstruction from indirect information7–9. Here we show direct imaging of single glycan molecules that are isolated by mass-selective, soft-landing electrospray ion beam deposition and imaged by low-temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy10. The sub-nanometre resolution of the technique enables the visualization of glycan connectivity and discrimination between regioisomers. Direct glycan imaging is an important step towards a better understanding of the structure of carbohydrates. An imaging method combining soft-landing electrospray ion beam deposition and low-temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy resolves the structures of glycans at sub-nanometre resolution, revealing the connectivity of glycan chains and the types of linkages.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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