Carbohydrate-binding modules:assisted polysaccharide recognition

Abstract:

In nature, the biological degradation of carbohydrates is one of the most important reactions. Carbohydrate-active enzymes are enzymes involved in the synthesis, degradation and modification of carbohydrates. Due to the insolubility of some high-molecular weight polysaccharide substrates, the catalytic efficiency of some carbohydrate-active enzymes is low. Carbohydrate-binding modules (CBM) specifically bind carbohydrate substrates and improve the catalytic efficiency of carbohydrate-active enzymes by elevating the substrate concentrations around the catalytic modules. This review summarizes the knowledge of CBM, including their nomenclature and classification, the relationship between CBM structures and functions, and so on. Furthermore, some applications of CBM in biological and medical engineering are also presented.