Carbohydrate Drug Design (ACS Symposium Series, No. 932)

It is becoming more obvious in recent years that carbohydrates present a new dimension in drug design for targeting specific diseases. Carbohydrates birthed a whole new vocabulary into chemistry, biochemistry and related disciplines -- a new language in the form of distinct characters and images providing professional chemists not in the area of carbohydrates to become familiar and knowledgeable on the topic. Carbohydrate Drug Design provides the indispensable understanding of the mutual challenge between carbohydrate-based drugs and the deadly diseases which they target.Carbohydrate Drug Design discusses pre-clinical studies and clinical trials of carbohydrate-based drugs, drug delivery and pain managements, biocompatibility, clearance and metabolic pathways of carbohydrate drugs, and actual medical devices employing carbohydrates. The invasion of cancer cells, protein-glycan interactions and their inhibitors, new carbohydrate-based therapeutics, crystal structure of antibodies with unusually high affinity for carbohydrates, and a number of other features of carbohydrate drugs are also comprehensively covered. Galactomannans and hyaluronans, as well as thio-, imino- and carba-sugars are particularly considered in respect to their structural and functional impacts.