New strategies and targets in the development of carbohydrate therapeutics

摘要

Carbohydrate-based drug development has emerged as a highly promising and exciting area in contemporary medicine and chemistry. Interest in this area is based on a number of factors, including our growing understanding of the role of endogenous carbohydrates in cellular function, our ability to synthesize carbohydrate analogs, and the success of some of these analogs as novel therapeutic agents in treating cancer, diabetes, and infectious diseases. As a result there has been a significant increase in the number of reviews that address the general field of carbohydrate medicinal chemistry. This short account is devoted to examining these new developments in carbohydrate-drug design, with a focus on new functionalized carbohydrates as promising therapeutic agents.