Imaging single glycans

verfasst von

X. Wu, M. Delbianco, K. Anggara, T. Michnowicz, A. Pardo-Vargas, P. Bharate, S. Sen, M. Pristl, S. Rauschenbach, U. Schlickum, S. Abb, P. H. Seeberger, K. Kern

Abstract

Imaging of biomolecules guides our understanding of their diverse structures and functions^1,2. Real-space imaging at sub-nanometre resolution using cryo-electron microscopy has provided key insights into proteins and their assemblies^3,4. 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 information^7–9. 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.

Externe Organisation(en)

Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung
Max-Planck-Institut für Kolloid- und Grenzflächenforschung
University of Oxford
Technische Universität Braunschweig
Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin)
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Lausanne (ETHL)

Typ

Artikel

Journal

NATURE

Band

582

Seiten

375-378

Anzahl der Seiten

4

ISSN

0028-0836

Publikationsdatum

18.06.2020

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Allgemein

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2362-1 (Zugang: Geschlossen)