Walking along sulfation pathways – a personal journey

Abstract

Sulfation pathways are understood as the non-reductive arm of sulfur biology. It is all about the making and breaking of biological sulfate esters. They have been the subject of our research for many years. Putting a negatively charged sulfate group on small molecules, on larger proteins or on humongously large sugar chains changes the chemical properties of these molecules immensely. Hence, sulfation pathways have an impact on biological processes as diverse as detoxification of ingested substances, steroid signalling, protein interaction, bio-mineralization and ageing. Traditionally, there wasn’t a ‘sulfation community’, as the subject was dealt with as a marginal matter at more general biochemical meetings. However, a growing sulfation community has recently been forged. This article showcases the achievements to highlight sulfation pathways in Science–Art (SciArt) projects.