SAXS-based conformational analysis of glycan hairpins

Natural biopolymers have inspired the development of synthetic analogues – i.e. foldamers – capable of adopting defined conformations and forming programmable three-dimensional architectures. These compounds are mainly based on peptides and nucleic acids. Following these examples, we recently designed a glycan adopting a stable secondary structure, challenging the common belief that glycans are not capable of folding due to their intrinsic flexibility. NMR spectroscopy has been used to study its conformation. However, it was a challenge to determine the exact conformation because NMR spectra of glycans suffer from severe overlaps between the resonances of different residues. Here, we use small-angle X-ray scattering to investigate their molecular conformation and dynamics in the aqueous solutions. The results will provide direct structural information on the foldamers.