NMR of glycoproteins: profiling, structure, conformation and interactions

n glycoproteins, carbohydrates are responsible for theselective interaction and tight regulation of cellular processes,constituting the main information transducer interface inprotein–glycoprotein interactions. Increasing experimental andcomputational evidence suggest that such interactions ofteninduce allosteric changes in the host protein, underlining theimportance of studying intact glycoproteins. Technical issueshave precluded such studies for years but, nowadays, apromising era is emerging where NMR spectroscopy, amongother techniques, allows the characterization of thecomposition, structure and segmental dynamics ofglycoproteins. In this review, we discuss such advances andhighlight some selected examples. This novel technologyunravels multiple new functional mechanisms, subtly hiddenwithin the sugar code