Structural Biochemistry/Carbohydrates/Carbohydrates and Proteins
Many proteins either have carbohydrates added on to them for
structural and purposes or use carbohydrates as substrates in
cell reactions. CARBOHYDRATES BINDING MOLECULES AND MALARIA Many
pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites, use
carbohydrate-binding molecules to interact with their
hosts.Carbohydrates play an important role in the modification
and function of proteins.The new insights on pathogenic
carbohydrate-binding molecules provide potential therapeutic
targets.Glycoproteins play a key role in pathogen binding to
their host cells. Malaria-causing parasites, interact with human
hepatocytes and erythrocytes. This glycoprotein mediated binding
is essential for host cell invasion, movement, avoidance of
detection by the immune system, and destruction. The malaria
parasite recognizes multiple sialylated proteins on the
erythrocyte surface to bind to the host cell. Two protein
families in malaria parasites recognize the sialic aci