Glycobiology of reproductive processes in marine animals: the state of the art.

Alessandra Gallo, Maria Costantini

Marine drugs 2012 Dec 17

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Glycobiology is the study of complex carbohydrates in biological systems and represents a developing field of science that has made huge advances in the last half century. In fact, it combines all branches of biomedical research, revealing the vast and diverse forms of carbohydrate structures that exist in nature. Advances in structure determination have enabled scientists to study the function of complex carbohydrates in more depth and to determine the role that they play in a wide range of biological processes. Glycobiology research in marine systems has primarily focused on reproduction, in particular for what concern the chemical communication between the gametes. The current status of marine glycobiology is primarily descriptive, devoted to characterizing marine glycoconjugates with potential biomedical and biotechnological applications. In this review, we describe the current status of the glycobiology in the reproductive processes from gametogenesis to fertilization and embryo development of marine animals.

Citation

Alessandra Gallo, Maria Costantini. Glycobiology of reproductive processes in marine animals: the state of the art. Marine drugs. 2012 Dec 17;10(12):2861-92