Imaging single glycans

authored by

X. Wu, M. Delbianco, K. Anggara, T. Michnowicz, A. Pardo-Vargas, P. Bharate, S. Sen, M. Pristl, S. Rauschenbach, U. Schlickum, S. Abb, P. H. Seeberger, K. Kern

Abstract

Imaging of biomolecules guides our understanding of their diverse structures and functions^1,2. Real-space imaging at sub-nanometre resolution using cryo-electron microscopy has provided key insights into proteins and their assemblies^3,4. Direct molecular imaging of glycans—the predominant biopolymers on Earth, with a plethora of structural and biological functions⁵—has not been possible so far⁶. The inherent glycan complexity and backbone flexibility require single-molecule approaches for real-space imaging. At present, glycan characterization often relies on a combination of mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging to provide insights into size, sequence, branching and connectivity, and therefore requires structure reconstruction from indirect information^7–9. Here we show direct imaging of single glycan molecules that are isolated by mass-selective, soft-landing electrospray ion beam deposition and imaged by low-temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy¹⁰. The sub-nanometre resolution of the technique enables the visualization of glycan connectivity and discrimination between regioisomers. Direct glycan imaging is an important step towards a better understanding of the structure of carbohydrates.

External Organisation(s)

Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research (MPI-FKF)
Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces
University of Oxford
Technische Universität Braunschweig
Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin)
École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)

Type

Article

Journal

NATURE

Volume

582

Pages

375-378

No. of pages

4

ISSN

0028-0836

Publication date

18.06.2020

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2362-1 (Access: Closed)