New tools for evaluating protein tyrosine sulfation and carbohydrate sulfation

Sulfation is a common modification of extracelluar glycans and tyrosine residues on proteins, which is important in many signalling pathways and interactions. Existing methods for studying sulfotransferases, the enzymes that catalyse sulfation, are cumbersome and low-throughput. Recent studies published in the Biochemical Journal have repurposed established biochemical assays from the kinase field and applied them to the characterisation of sulfotransferases. Biochemical screening of a library of kinase inhibitors revealed that compounds that target RAF kinases may also be repurposed to inhibit sulfotransferases. Together with the available structures of sulfotransferases, these studies open the door to the development of chemical tools to probe the biological functions of these important enzymes.