Fucosylation is the process of adding

fucose Fucose is a hexose deoxy sugar with the chemical formula C6H12O5. It is found on ''N''-linked glycans on the mammalian, insect and plant cell surface. Fucose is the fundamental sub-unit of the seaweed polysaccharide fucoidan. The α(1→3) link ...

sugar units to a molecule. It is a type of

glycosylation Glycosylation is the reaction in which a carbohydrate (or ' glycan'), i.e. a glycosyl donor, is attached to a hydroxyl or other functional group of another molecule (a glycosyl acceptor) in order to form a glycoconjugate. In biology (but not al ...

. It is important clinically, and high levels of fucosylation have been reported in

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. In cancer and inflammation there are significant changes in the expression of fucosylated molecules. Therefore, antibodies and lectins that are able to recognize cancer associated fucosylated oligosaccharides have been used as tumor markers in oncology. It is performed by

fucosyltransferase A fucosyltransferase is an enzyme that transfers an L-fucose sugar from a GDP-fucose (guanosine diphosphate-fucose) donor substrate to an acceptor substrate. The acceptor substrate can be another sugar such as the transfer of a fucose to a core G ...

enzymes. Fucosylation has been observed in

vertebrates Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...

invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

plants Plants are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic eukaryotes of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all curr ...

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...

, and

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

. It has a role in cellular adhesion and immune regulation. Fucosylation inhibition applications are being explored for a range of clinical application including some associated with sickle cell disease, rheumatoid arthritis, tumor inhibition, and chemotherapy improvements. Fucosylation can help with immune response when a foreign pathogen is introduced in the body. Rapid fucosylation can occur in the epithelial lining of the small intestine as a protective mechanism to support the body’s symbiotic gut bacteria. This may regulate the bacterial genes responsible for quorum sensing or virulence, thus resulting in an increased tolerance of the infection.

References

Carbohydrate chemistry {{biochem-stub