Fucose is a
hexose deoxy sugar with the
chemical formula C
6H
12O
5. It is found on
''N''-linked glycans on the
mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
ian,
insect and
plant cell surface. Fucose is the fundamental sub-unit of the
seaweed
Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of '' Rhodophyta'' (red), ''Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...
polysaccharide
Polysaccharides (), or polycarbohydrates, are the most abundant carbohydrates found in food. They are long chain polymeric carbohydrates composed of monosaccharide units bound together by glycosidic linkages. This carbohydrate can react with wa ...
fucoidan. The
α(1→3) linked core of fucose is a suspected
carbohydrate antigen for
IgE-mediated
allergy.
Two structural features distinguish fucose from other six-carbon sugars present in mammals: the lack of a
hydroxyl group on the carbon at the 6-position (C-6) (thereby making it a
deoxy sugar) and the
L -configuration. It is equivalent to 6-deoxy--
galactose.
In the fucose-containing glycan structures, fucosylated glycans, fucose can exist as a terminal modification or serve as an attachment point for adding other sugars.
In human ''N''-linked glycans, fucose is most commonly linked α-1,6 to the reducing terminal β-''N''-acetylglucosamine. However, fucose at the non-reducing termini linked α-1,2 to galactose forms the
H antigen, the substructure of the A and B blood group antigens.
Fucose is released from fucose-containing polymers by an enzyme called α-
fucosidase found in
lysosomes.
-Fucose has several potential applications in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and dietary supplements
Fucosylation of antibodies has been established to reduce binding to the
Fc receptor of
Natural Killer cells and thereby reduce antigen-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. Therefore,
afucosylated monoclonal antibodies have been designed to recruit the immune system to cancers cells have been manufactured in cell lines deficient in the enzyme for core fucosylation (
FUT8), thereby enhancing the in vivo cell killing.
See also
*
Digitalose, the methyl ether of
D-fucose
*
Fucitol
*
Verotoxin-producing ''Escherichia coli''
References
{{Carbohydrates
Aldohexoses
Deoxy sugars