Highly efficient biocatalytic cascade for the diversity-oriented synthesis of complex blood group Sda antigens

Abstract

Sd^a antigens are a family of widely distributed histo-blood group antigens sharing the Siaα2,3(GalNAcβ1,4)Gal trisaccharide determinant. Despite their significant biological importance, the synthesis of these complex carbohydrate antigens is challenging. Herein, we report a highly efficient and green synthesis of diverse Sd^a antigens with different underlying structures and sialic acid forms utilizing 6 multienzyme cascade reaction systems. The multienzyme cascade approach combines sugar nucleotide donor generation enzymes and glycosyltransferases, providing an efficient and convenient approach for the rapid assembly of complex glycans from simple monosaccharide building blocks.