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Giving cells a new sugar-coating

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Looked at from the outside of the cell, proteins are often hidden behind a forest of sugar chains. Using a sugar analog to introduce thiols onto the tips of the branches of this forest alters cell attachment and has unexpected consequences for cell differentiation.

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Figure 1

Rebecca Henretta

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Howarth, M., Ting, A. Giving cells a new sugar-coating. Nat Chem Biol 2, 127–128 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio0306-127

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