Analysis and validation of carbohydrate three-dimensional structures

Knowledge of the three-dimensional structures of the carbohydrate molecules is indispensable for a full understanding of the molecular processes in which carbohydrates are involved, such as protein glycosylation or protein-carbohydrate interactions. The Protein Data Bank (PDB) is a valuable resource for three-dimensional structural information on glycoproteins and protein-carbohydrate complexes. Unfortunately, many carbohydrate moieties in the PDB contain inconsistencies or errors. This article gives an overview of the information that can be obtained from individual PDB entries and from statistical analyses of sets of three-dimensional structures, of typical problems that arise during the analysis of carbohydrate three-dimensional structures and of the validation tools that are currently available to scientists to evaluate the quality of these structures.