Glycoconjugate journal
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The majority of all proteins are glycosylated and glycans have numerous important structural, functional and regulatory roles in various physiological processes. While structure of the polypeptide part of a glycoprotein is defined by the sequence of nucleotides in the corresponding gene, structure of a glycan part results from dynamic interactions between hundreds of genes, their protein products and environmental factors. The composition of the glycome attached to an individual protein, or to a complex mixture of proteins, like human plasma, is stable within an individual, but very variable between individuals. ⋯ The epigenetic information (DNA methylation pattern and histone code) is especially vulnerable to environmental effects in the early intrauterine and neo-natal development and many common late-onset diseases take root already at that time. The evidences showing the link between epigenetics and glycosylation are accumulating. Recent progress in high-throughput glycomics, genomics and epigenomics enabled first epidemiological and genome-wide association studies of the glycome, which are presented in this mini-review.
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Glycoconjugate journal · Jan 2013
ReviewTherapies and therapeutic approaches in Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation.
Inborn errors in glycoconjugate biosynthesis termed 'Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation' (CDG) comprise a rapidly expanding group of metabolic diseases in man. Up till now more than 60 different inherited disorders in N- and O-glycosylation pathways have been identified. ⋯ Although improved biochemical and genetic investigations led to identification of a variety of new molecular defects in glycoconjugate biosynthesis, effective therapies for most types of the CDG are so far not available. Therefore, intensive investigations on treatment options for this group of diseases have been carried out in recent years.