Fucosyltransferases as Synthetic Tools: Glycan Array Based Substrate Selection and Core Fucosylation of Synthetic N-Glycans

Two recombinant fucosyltransferases were employed as synthetic tools in the chemoenzymatic synthesis of core fucosylated N-glycan structures. Enzyme substrates were rapidly identified by incubating a microarray of synthetic N-glycans with the transferases and detecting the presence of core fucose with four lectins and one antibody. Selected substrates were then enzymatically fucosylated in solution on a preparative scale and characterized by NMR and MS. With this approach the chemoenzymatic synthesis of a series of alpha 1,3-, alpha 1,6-, and difucosylated structures was accomplished in very short time and with high yields, which otherwise would have required extensive additional synthetic effort and a complete redesign of existing synthetic routes. In addition, valuable information was gathered regarding the specificities of the lectins employed in this study.