The orderly migration of various white blood cell types to inflammatory sites is a highly regulated process that involves a diversity of adhesion and signaling molecules. This cellular influx is initiated by relatively low affinity interactions that allow for leukocytes to roll along the vascular surfa ce. This rolling phe­ nomenon is mediated by adhesive interactions between lectin containing ad­ hesion molecules, termed selectins, on both the vascular endothelium and leukocytes, and car bohydrate ligands immobilized on mucin-like scaffolds. This adhesion allows for a rapid recognition of various cell types under the conditions of vascular flow, with the result that inflammatory cells are spe­

Interactions and the initiation of the inflammatory response

Advances in the chemical synthesis of C-pyranosides/furanosides are summarized, covering the literature from 2000 to 2016. The majority of the methods take advantage of the construction of the glycosidic C—C bond. These C-glycosylation methods are categorized herein in terms of the glycosyl donor precursors, which are commonly used in O-glycoside synthesis and are easily accessible to nonspecialists. They include glycosyl halides, glycals, sugar acetates, sugar lactols, sugar lactones, 1,2-anhydro sugars, thioglycosides/sulfoxides/sulfones, selenoglycosides/telluroglycosides, methyl glycosides, and glycosyl imidates/phosphates. Mechanistically, C-glycosylation reactions can involve glycosyl electrophilic/cationic species, anionic species, radical species, or transition-metal complexes, which are discussed as subcategories under each type of sugar precursor. Moreover, intramolecular rearrangements, such as the Claisen rearrangement, Ramberg–Backlund rearrangement, and 1,2-Wittig rearrangement, which usuall...

Recent Advances in the Chemical Synthesis of C-Glycosides

Recent Developments in the Ferrier Rearrangement

Aberrant glycosylation, a common feature associated with malignancy, has been implicated in important events during cancer progression. Our understanding of the role of glycans in cancer has grown exponentially in the last few years, concurrent with important advances in glycomics and glycoproteomic technologies, paving the way for the validation of a number of glycan structures as potential glycobiomarkers. However, the molecular bases underlying cancer-associated glycan modifications are still far from understood. Glycans exhibit a natural heterogeneity, crucial for their diverse functional roles as specific carriers of biologically relevant information. This information is decoded by families of proteins named lectins, including sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin (Ig)-like lectins (siglecs), C-type lectin receptors (CLRs), and galectins. Siglecs are primarily expressed on the surface of immune cells and differentially control innate and adaptive immune responses. Among CLRs, selectins are a family of cell adhesion molecules that mediate interactions between cancer cells and platelets, leukocytes, and endothelial cells, thus facilitating tumor cell invasion and metastasis. Galectins, a family of soluble proteins that bind β-galactoside-containing glycans, have been implicated in diverse events associated with cancer biology such as apoptosis, homotypic cell aggregation, angiogenesis, cell migration, and tumor-immune escape. Consequently, individual members of these lectin families have become promising targets for the design of novel anticancer therapies. During the past decade, a number of inhibitors of lectin-glycan interactions have been developed including small-molecule inhibitors, multivalent saccharide ligands, and more recently peptides and peptidomimetics have offered alternatives for tackling tumor progression. In this article, we review the current status of the discovery and development of chemical lectin inhibitors and discuss novel strategies to limit cancer progression by targeting lectin-glycan interactions.

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Turning-Off Signaling by Siglecs, Selectins, and Galectins: Chemical Inhibition of Glycan-Dependent Interactions in Cancer

Thanks to the beneficial effect of fluorine substitution on the pharmacokinetic properties of molecules, an ever increasing number of marketed drugs incorporate a fluorine atom into their structure. As a consequence, the synthesis of fluorinated molecules has become a very active research field. Among the numerous approaches, fluorinated enol ethers are valuable building blocks that allow the introduction of a fluoro- or difluoromethyl group through a wide variety of reactions. The present review lists different methods for their preparation and sums up their numerous synthetic applications.

Fluorinated enol ethers: their synthesis and reactivity

A methodology allowing the synthesis alpha-CF(2)-mannosides, based on the addition of a difluoroenoxysilane to a glycal followed by a dihydroxylation reaction, is described. The resulting 2,2-difluoro-2-mannosylacetate is converted into two pseudoglycopeptides which may act as E- and P-selectin inhibitors.

Anne-Lise Serre

Papers

Synthesis of α-CF2-mannosides and Their Conversion to Fluorinated Pseudoglycopeptides

Synthesis of fluorinated C-mannopeptides as sialyl Lewisx mimics for E- and P-selectin inhibition.