Glycosylation

October 2, 2026

A Sugar Switch in the Fetal Heart Links Maternal Diabetes to Cardiac Damage

A recent study published in Nature Communications reveals how maternal hyperglycemia-induced O-GlcNAcylation of CaMKIIδ drives mtDNA release and cardiac remodeling in offspring, identifying a glycosylation-dependent mechanism that links the intrauterine metabolic environment to neonatal heart injury. Introduction Maternal diabetes during pregnancy is a well-established risk factor for congenital heart defects and for cardiovascular disease that […]

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September 25, 2026

How a Single Glycosyltransferase Steers the Fate of Blood Stem Cells

Hematopoietic stem cells must constantly decide: self-renew, or become a specific blood lineage. That balance, when broken, underlies myelodysplastic syndromes, myeloproliferative neoplasms, and inherited thrombocytopenias. A Nature Communications study shows that a single glycosyltransferase, B4GALT1, sits at the center of that decision, shaping the sugar coat of the bone-marrow niche and, through it, the fate […]

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Mucin-Type <em>O</em>-Glycosylation in Brain Function, Aging, and Disease

September 18, 2026

Mucin-Type O-Glycosylation in Brain Function, Aging, and Disease

For decades, research on brain glycosylation focused primarily on N-glycosylation, partly because analytical methods for this modification were established earlier. A perspective in Molecular Psychiatry now highlights a more flexible and less characterized modification: mucin-type O-GalNAcylation. In the Golgi apparatus, one or more of the twenty human GALNT isoenzymes initiates this pathway by transferring N-acetylgalactosamine […]

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August 21, 2026

Highly Fucosylated, Poorly Sialylated: The Fc Glycan Signature of Anti-PGL-I IgG1 in Leprosy

Leprosy remains a major neglected tropical disease, and its most severe presentations are marked by a paradox: patients with disseminated infection carry high titers of antibodies against Mycobacterium leprae, yet those antibodies do not appear to control the bacterium. A study in iScience asks why, and points the answer at the sugar decorations on the […]

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August 7, 2026

AI Virtual Cell Models Meet Glycobiology

A recent review in npj Digital Medicine lays out how AI-driven virtual cell models are moving from computational curiosity to a working engine for preclinical research. These models integrate single-cell transcriptomics, spatial transcriptomics, proteomics, and other high-throughput readouts with deep generative networks, graph neural networks, and physics-informed architectures to predict how a cell will respond […]

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May 11, 2026

Benchmarking Glycan Profiles of 209 FDA-Approved Antibodies

Why Antibody Glycosylation is So Important Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies have become one of the fastest-growing drug classes in modern biopharmaceuticals. As glycoproteins, antibodies carry a conserved N-linked glycan at position 297 (Asn297) of the Fc region. This seemingly tiny glycan structure profoundly influences the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of antibodies, including key effector functions such […]

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April 27, 2026

How Sialic Acid Regulates Tumor Immunity

In March 2026, a team led by Matthew S. Macauley from the University of Alberta published a review in Journal of Biological Chemistry entitled "Writers and readers of sialylation in immunoregulation in cancer." This review systematically summarized the key role of sialylation in tumor immune regulation, focusing on how sialyltransferases, acting as "writers," and Siglec/Selectin, acting […]

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April 15, 2026

Mapping GlycoRNAs on the Exosomal Surface: Methodological Innovation and Functional Discovery

RNA Glycosylation: A New Frontier in Epitranscriptomics For a long time, RNA has been viewed as a carrier of genetic information, with its core function restricted to protein synthesis. However, as epitranscriptomics research has advanced, it has become increasingly clear that post-transcriptional modifications confer upon RNA a chemical diversity and functional repertoire far exceeding traditional […]

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April 2, 2026

The Glyco-Code of the Brain: A New Frontier in Neuroscience

The human brain is composed of over 100 billion highly specialized cells that regulate cognition, emotion, and behavior through intricate networks of molecular signaling. Within this sophisticated system, a biological modification known as glycosylation is increasingly emerging as a central focus of neuroscience research. Although glycans constitute less than 1% of the brain's total mass, […]

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