Carbohydrate binding modules: functions and applications

Carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) are associated to the synthesis and breakdown of complex carbohydrates and glycoconjugates. CAZymes, beside the catalytic domain (CD), usually present a substrate-binding module named carbohydratebinding module (CBM), which has independent fold and function. Nearly 7% of the CAZymes contain at least one CBM module. Presently, 58 CBMs families are described in the CAZy database (http://www.cazy.org/), presenting considerable heterogeneity in binding specificity, towards crystalline, amorphous and soluble polysaccharides, both between and within the families. CBMs are known to potentiate the activity of many enzymes, by targeting and promoting a prolonged interaction with the substrate. Since CBMs are functional and structurally independent of the other protein modules, several applications have been described using CBMs obtained by enzyme proteolysis or by DNA recombinant technology. The present revision focus on recent developments on CBMs applications in the biomedical, biological and biotechnological fields.