Recent progress in the field of glycopeptide synthesis

Glycosylation is a common post-translational modification of proteins. Although its significance in biological system is recognized, approaches to analyze carbohydrate function are limited. This is because of difficulty in obtaining homogenous glycoproteins from natural resources. Due to the progress of the carbohydrate and peptide chemistry, syntheses of various homogenous glycopeptides and glycoproteins, which are suitable for biological studies, have been achieved by chemical means. In this review, we briefly summarize recent advances in the field of glycopeptide synthesis after 1999. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.