Biochimica et biophysica acta
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Biochim. Biophys. Acta · Aug 2016
ReviewThe promise of protein glycosylation for personalised medicine.
Complex diseases such as cancer are a consequence of numerous causes. State of the art personalised medicine approaches are mostly based on evaluating patients' individual genetic background. Despite the advances of genomics it fails to take individual dynamic influences into account that contribute to the individual and unique glycomic and glycoproteomic "configurations" of every living being. ⋯ There is an urgent need for markers that enable the establishment of an individualised and optimised patient treatment at the earliest disease stage possible. The glycosylation status of a patient and/or specific marker proteins can provide important clues that result in improved patient management. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Glycans in personalised medicine" Guest Editor: Professor Gordan Lauc.
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Biochim. Biophys. Acta · Aug 2016
ReviewHisto-blood group glycans in the context of personalized medicine.
A subset of histo-blood group antigens including ABO and Lewis are oligosaccharide structures which may be conjugated to lipids or proteins. They are known to be important recognition motifs not only in the context of blood transfusions, but also in infection and cancer development. ⋯ Histo-blood group glycans have a unique linking position in the complex network of genes, oncodevelopmental biological processes, and disease mechanisms. Thus, they are highly promising targets for novel approaches in the field of personalized medicine. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Glycans in personalised medicine" Guest Editor: Professor Gordan Lauc.
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Biochim. Biophys. Acta · Aug 2016
ReviewMethods for the absolute quantification of N-glycan biomarkers.
Many treatment options especially for cancer show a low efficacy for the majority of patients demanding improved biomarker panels for patient stratification. Changes in glycosylation are a hallmark of many cancers and inflammatory diseases and show great potential as clinical disease markers. The large inter-subject variability in glycosylation due to hereditary and environmental factors can complicate rapid transfer of glycan markers into the clinical practice but also presents an opportunity for personalized medicine. ⋯ Glycan biomarkers have a huge potential as disease markers for personalized medicine. The use of stable isotope labeled glycans as internal standards and heavy-isotope labeling methods will provide the necessary method precision and robustness acceptable for clinical use. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Glycans in personalized medicine" Guest Editor: Professor Gordan Lauc.
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Biochim. Biophys. Acta · Aug 2016
ReviewGlycomics and glycoproteomics focused on aging and age-related diseases--Glycans as a potential biomarker for physiological alterations.
Since glycosylation depends on glycosyltransferases, glycosidases, and sugar nucleotide donors, it is susceptible to the changes associated with physiological and pathological conditions. Therefore, alterations in glycan structures may be good targets and biomarkers for monitoring health conditions. Since human aging and longevity are affected by genetic and environmental factors such as diseases, lifestyle, and social factors, a scale that reflects various environmental factors is required in the study of human aging and longevity. ⋯ Alterations in glycosylation may be good targets and biomarkers for monitoring health conditions, and be applicable to studies on age-related diseases and healthy aging. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Glycans in personalised medicine" Guest Editor: Professor Gordan Lauc.
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Biochim. Biophys. Acta · Aug 2016
ReviewApplications of ion mobility mass spectrometry for high throughput, high resolution glycan analysis.
Diverse varieties of often heterogeneous glycans are ubiquitous in nature. They play critical roles in recognition events, act as energy stores and provide structural stability at both molecular and cellular levels. Technologies capable of fully elucidating the structures of glycans are far behind the other '-omic' fields. Liquid chromatography (LC) and mass spectrometry (MS) are currently the most useful techniques for high-throughput analysis of glycans. However, these techniques do not provide full unambiguous structural information and instead the gap in full sequence assignment is frequently filled by a priori knowledge of the biosynthetic pathways and the assumption that these pathways are highly conserved. ⋯ IM-MS is a promising technique that fills an important gap within the Glycomics toolbox, namely identifying and differentiating the three-dimensional structure of chemically similar carbohydrates and glycoconjugates. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Glycans in personalised medicine" Guest Editor: Professor Gordan Lauc.