Maximising multivalency effects in protein-carbohydrate interactions

Multivalent carbohydrates are currently produced in many forms ranging from dendrimers, polymers, micelles, vesicles, nanoparticles to functionalized nanotubes, in order to enhance the potency of the carbohydrates as ligands or inhibitors. Variations in valency range from systems containing two carbohydrate units to those containing more than 2000. In this perspective a number of popular target proteins for multivalent binding/inhibition have been selected. The optimal systems displaying the largest multivalency effects are discussed with respect to their mechanism of multivalent binding.