Synthetic Inhibitors of Cell Adhesion: A Glycopeptide from E-Selectin Ligand 1 (ESL-1) with the Arabino Sialyl Lewisx Structure

Particularly selective methods are required for the synthesis of arabino sialyl Lewisx glycopeptides owing to the acid-labile β-arabinopyranoside bond. It is important for the inhibition of cell adhesion that the arabino sialyl Lewisx glycopeptide 1, which contains the Gly 672–Asp 681 sequence of the E-selectin Ligand 1 (ESL-1), binds ten times more strongly than sialyl Lewisx to E-selectin, although it is monovalent and does not contain L-fucose, which is considered essential.