Multivalent glycosylated nanoparticles for studying carbohydrate–protein interactions

Carbohydrates are essential mediators of many important extracellular binding events. Multivalent effects are often required for these binding interactions that are generally weak. Biologically significant carbohydrate-modified nanomaterials are an appealing model system for a systematic investigation of multivalent binding effects. This review seeks to highlight recent striking examples of multivalent glycosylated nanomaterials concentrating on carbohydrate–protein interactions. The specific aim is to provide an overview of various aspects of glyco-nanoparticles in binding assays, targeted therapy, molecular imaging, enzyme activity assay, and bacterium detection.