Research progress regarding iminosugars for glycosidase inhibition and hypoglycemic activity.

The multivalent effect or glycocluster effect is a natural phenomenon especially relevant for carbohydrate-protein interactions. Multivalent glycoclusters have been widely studied, and they show significantly stronger binding interactions with proteins compared with monovalent ligands. However, the development of multivalent glycoclusters based on iminosugars occurred relatively late. In this review, we systematically summarized the structural features and biological applications of monoiminosugars and highlighted self-assembled multivalent glycosidase inhibitors and their applications related to glucosidase inhibition activity, the hypoglycemic effect and antimicrobial properties. Finally, we outline potential applications of iminosugars in the development of long-acting hypoglycemic drugs and integrated functional molecules with both hypoglycemic and antibacterial activities.