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KAGAWA UNIVERSITY
RARE SUGAR
RESEARCH CENTER
MIKI-CHO, JAPAN 7610795 |
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Introduction
Rare sugars are defined by the International Society of Rare Sugars (ISRS)
as monosaccharides and their derivatives that are rare in nature. They
are hardly available for research purposes because of their expensiveness.
"Izumoring", a structural framework containing all 34 six-carbon
monosaccharides linked by enzymatic reactions, has been proposed following
the discovery of a key enzyme which converts abundantly occurring monosaccharides
in nature into rare sugars. This has made possible the mass production
of rare sugars from inexpensive sugars such as D-glucose or D-fructose.
We have started research to elucidate physico-chemical characteristics
and biological function of rare sugars. The main objectives of this research
are development of "glyco-life science" and of new glyco-bio
industries manufacturing various rare sugars based products such as pharmaceutical
drugs, functional foods, cosmetics.
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