Conformations of oligosaccharides

This chapter assesses the conformation of oligosaccharides. A major goal in glycobiology is to relate structures of glycans to their functions. Glycans with different covalent structures take up different conformations in the same way that proteins with different sequences have distinct tertiary structures or folds. Sequences of proteins dictate their three-dimensional structures, and these structures determine their functions. Similar rules probably apply in the case of oligosaccharides. However, principles relating structure to function have not been easy to establish, partly because of our limited knowledge of the conformations that glycans assume. The chapter summarizes what is known about the three-dimensional structure of N-linked oligosaccharides.