Fucose is a deoxyhexose that is present in many organisms. Fucose-containing glycans, generated by fucosyltransferase using GDP-fucose, have roles in cell signaling, cell-cell interactions, and blood properties. 2-deoxy-2-fluoro L-Fucose is a fluorinated fucose analog. It can be metabolized inside the cell to a substrate-based inhibitor of fucosyltransferases. Alternatively, it can be converted in vitro to GDP-2-deoxy-2-fluoro L-fucose, a competitive inhibitor of α1,3-fucosyltransferase V (Ki = 4.2 μM).
