Capillary Electrophoresis as an Assay Method for Monitoring Glycosyltransferase Activity

Glycobiology has rapidly developed into an important area of research devoted to the understanding and analysis of the interactions that carbohydrates have with other biomolecules. To accompany the rapid development of this field, better techniques for the analysis of the biosynthesis of complex carbohydrates are required. To investigate interactions between proteins and carbohydrates, an adequate supply of carbohydrate ligand must be obtained. Isolation of biologically active carbohydrates is possible, but only in small amounts. Recent efforts in the cloning of glycosyltransferase genes from a variety of sources has opened the possibility of enzymatic synthesis or chemienzymatic synthesis of a larger number of relevant oligosaccharides (1 –4 , http://www.vei.co.uk/tgn/gt_guide.htm ).