The promise of sulfated synthetic small molecules as modulators of glycosaminoglycan function

摘要

It is not too often that a world of simple principles and obvious expectations opens up in the drug-discovery field. It is rare that these expectations can be translated into biologically active small molecules easily. It is even rarer that these synthetic small molecules are practically devoid of cellular toxicity. Yet, a new paradigm is slowly shaping up in the form of sulfated glycosaminoglycan (GAG) mimetics that can either mimic or interfere with the function of the parent biomacromolecules.