Carbohydrate-Based Nanoprobes

Dear colleagues,

Carbohydrates appear to play key roles in many biological events affecting a large range of physiological processes. To a great extent, such biological events are mediated by molecular recognition processes that rely on specific interactions between carbohydrates and other molecules, generally proteins. These events include cell–cell signaling, cell growth regulation, differentiation, adhesion, cellular trafficking, tumor metastasis, infections by bacteria and viruses, inflammation, and immune response. Thus, the study of carbohydrates has become increasingly important for developing new therapeutic and diagnostic strategies for many diseases. In this regard, the development of biosensors based on the utilization of carbohydrate–protein recognition in the sensing mechanism is a very promising alternative to the most commonly used methods based on the utilization of antibodies and nucleic acids as recognition elements. However, the use of sensing systems based on carbohydrate recognition is challenging for several reasons, with the weak affinity of individual carbohydrate–protein interactions being a major drawback. To overcome such weak affinity, cell-surface carbohydrates appear arranged as clusters allowing for multivalent interactions to achieve high affinity. Such a mode of recognition has served as an inspiration for designing multivalent presentation of carbohydrates with enhanced affinity for their protein receptors. For example, carbohydrate-modified nanoscale materials capable of mimicking the multivalent presentation and interactions of carbohydrates in nature are emerging as enabling tools for the development of carbohydrate-based nanoprobes. Moreover, nanosized materials show very impressive chemical and physical properties that can bring a number of benefits to the development of high sensitive and specific sensors.

This Special Issue of Nanomaterials aims to cover the recent advances in the preparation and sensing applications of carbohydrate-based nanoprobes.

Prof. Dr. Antonio Vargas-Berenguel
Dr. Juan M. Casas-Solvas
Guest Editors

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• glyconanoparticles
• nanoparticles
• biosensors
• nanoprobes
• carbohydrates
• chemical sensors
• multivalency