8^th Asia Pacific Glycobiology Congress May 10-11, 2019 Tokyo, Japan

The biological functions of glycans span the range from those that appear to be relatively subtle, to those that are crucial for the growth, development, functioning, or survival of the organism that produces them. The biological functions of glycans can be divided into two broad groups: (1) the structural and modulatory properties of glycans and (2) the specific identification of glycans by other molecules most commonly, glycan-binding proteins (GBPs). The biological effects of changing glycosylation in numerous structures appear to be extremely variable and unpredictable. A particular glycan can have diverse functions in different tissues or at different intervals in development (organism-intrinsic functions) or in different environmental contexts (organism-extrinsic functions). Methods taken to recognize the biological roles of glycans comprise the inhibition of initial glycosylation, prevention of glycan chain elongation, alteration of glycan processing, genetic elimination of glycosylation sites, enzymatic or chemical deglycosylation of completed chains, and the study of naturally occurring genetic variants and mutants in glycosylation.

An enzymatic process called as glycosylation facilitate glycans to attach a wide variety of biological molecules through to enhance their role. Glycans are found in archaea, bacteria and eukaryotes, and their varied roles contribute to maintain physical and structural integrity, formation of extracellular matrix, signal transduction, protein folding and information exchange between cells (and pathogens). Glycans are the major molecule on the cell surface and function as the primary point of interaction between a cell and other cells, the extracellular matrix and pathogens. The intensified evolutionary pressure of being at the front lines of cellular collaboration and conflict most likely led to the modification of glycans. Glyco-epitope diversity augments the function of glycans in the group of debilitating and life-shortening disorders known as congenital muscular dystrophy, or CMD. Both ECM and the membrane proteins are highly glycosylated, and O-glycans are vital for proper ECM function and communication between cells and the ECM. Numerous Glycoepitomics forms of CMD are known to result from dysfunctional O-glycosylation of membrane and ECM proteins; however, one-third of CMDs arise from an unknown genetic etiology.

The human intestine hosts trillions of bacteria that directly influence human health. The majority of gut microbes play a significant role in nutrition by digesting host-indigestible complex glycans into short-chain fatty acids. Development of the mesh-like peptidoglycan (PG) sacculus located between the bacterial inner and outer membranes (OM) is tightly regulated to ensure maintain cell shape and cellular integrity. Cytoskeletal elements focus on location and activity of PG synthases from inside the cell, but exact spatiotemporal regulator over this process is poorly understood. Glycan catabolism contains metabolic pathway maps for glycans. Some of them contain a substitute representation of glycan biosynthesis or degradation, called the glycan structure map.

Glycochemistry and Glycobiology are the two main intertwined areas of Glycosciences, dealing with various aspects of glycans, including carbohydrate structure, biochemistry, biological functions and applications. This is required in order to maintain and advance the recognition of important glycobiological features and the application of glycans and glyco-engineering strategies in the design of novel treatments to improve human health. The glycans (carbohydrates) form a varied cluster of biomolecules which play active parts in most biological processes. The arena of structural glycobiology involves of the structures of the glycans themselves, the proteins which interact with them and the nature of the interactions between the two. Drug targeting is an important aspect in order to understand human health and disease, and for development of novel therapeutic strategies.

Glycomics is a field in genetics that uses recombinant DNA, DNA sequencing methods and bioinformatics to sequence, assemble and analyze the function and structure of glycans along with the genomes. Metabolomics is concerned with the systematic study of the biological products or metabolites that cells and organisms produce. Certainly, most human metabolomics reports published today, even those developing the recent and most sensitive LC-MS/MS technologies, typically succeed in recognizing or characterising fewer than 100 compounds. This comprises the human cerebrospinal fluid metabolome: the human saliva metabolome and the human serum metabolome.

Glycomedicine functions a pivotal role in cell-cell adhesion i.e. a tool utilized by cells of the immune system through sugar-binding proteins called lectins, which identify specific carbohydrate portions. Glycans (carbohydrate oligomers) are the so-called “building blocks” of carbohydrates, nucleic acids, proteins and lipids play foremost roles in numerous biological phenomena as well as in various pathophysiological processes. Many researchers have now understood that glycosylation, i.e. the addition of glycans to a protein backbone, is the most abundant post translational modification reactions and is a significant field of research and sometimes they require a glycobiology method to be exploited.

Mass spectrometry (MS) is a vital diagnostic method that ionizes chemical species and sorts the ions based on their mass-to-charge ratio. A mass spectrum is a graphical plot of the ion signal as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio during experimental analysis. These spectra are then exploited to regulate the primary or isotopic name of a sample for observations, the masses of particles and of various molecules, and to elucidate the chemical structures of desired molecules, such as glycopeptides, biomolecules, and other chemical compounds.

Glycomics is a branch in genetics that uses DNA sequencing methods, recombinant DNA, and bioinformatics to sequence, assemble and identify the role and arrangement of glycans along with the genomes. Transcriptomics is a comparatively new branch of science that is concerned with the organised study of the chemical products or metabolites that cells and organisms produce. Certainly, most human metabolomics reports published today, even those developing the recent and most sensitive LC-MS/MS technologies, typically succeed in recognizing or characterising fewer than 100 compounds. This comprises the human cerebrospinal fluid metabolome: the human saliva metabolome and the human serum metabolome. This resembles to fewer than 1% of the recognized human metabolome.

Glycans are constituents of numerous bio-therapeutic agents, extending from natural products to molecules established on rational design to recombinant glycoproteins. The glycan constituents of these agents can be important factors of their biological activity and therapeutic efficacy. Glycobiology and Biochemistry comprises a multidisciplinary branch of carbohydrate-binding proteins (lectins), glycolipids  and some other plant proteins that are capable of interacting with endogenous or foreign (macro) molecules.

Glycans are at the core of many disorders and diseases generating the chance of exploiting them for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes. There are many biochemical paths and diseases in which glycans are intricately involved. Evaluating the huge potential and the capacity that glycobiology holds, many pharma and biotech companies have already started assigning their R&D budget to it. Currently, with our drug resource fast depleting against drug resistant and mutant pathogens, glycobiology hold an intact source of new candidate drugs.

Glycan arrangements cannot be described by a simple linear one-letter code as each pair of monosaccharides can be linked in several ways and branched structures can be formed. Limited bioinformatics algorithms established for genomics or proteomics can be directly modified for glycomics. The growth of algorithms, which allow a quick, automatic analysis of mass spectra to classify glycan structures, is presently the most active field of research. The growth and use of informatics tools and databases for glycobiology and glycomics research has increased significantly in recent years. In terms of bioinformatics in glycobiology, there are several paths of research that are currently in growth.

Glycobiology along with the field of proteomics, principally the use of mass spectrometry analysis to protein samples, is well-established and growing speedily. Proteomics reports along with the glycans produce large capacities of raw experimental data and inferred biological consequences. To enable the distribution of these data, federal data sources have been established that make the information and results available to proteomics researchers and biologists alike. Experimental study of proteomics data sources emphases completely on freely-available, centralized data resources that distribute or store experimental mass spectrometry data and results.

Glycobiology is the study of the arrangement, biosynthesis and biology of saccharides that are extensively dispersed in nature. Sugars or saccharides are essential constituents of all living things and features the several roles they play in biology and are researched in various medical, biochemical and biotechnological fields. The study of glycan structures is also complexed by the absence of a direct pattern for their biosynthesis, conflicting to the case with proteins where their amino acid sequence is identified by their corresponding gene.

Starches are principally considered as main source of essential resources and energy for living beings. Current modern study’s in this zone has dedicated mainly on simple basic sugars and homopolysaccharides such as, starch, cellulose, glycogen, and chitin. During the last few decades, the scientists have changed their concentration on complex forms like carbohydrates, especially proteoglycans, glycolipids and glycoproteins which are collectively denoted to as glycoconjugates that displays the possible recognition markers in the biological system which also relays to other biomedical and clinical fields. The roles of glycans and glycoconjgates in cancer have been highlighted, because minor changes in glycosylation can enormously control the whole pathway and mechanisms of cancer, which leads to an indication as a biomarker development leading to various therapeutics developments in cancer research.

The increasing importance of glycobiology and carbohydrate chemistry in modern biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry is tremendously increasing. The starches of therapeutic recombinant glycoproteins have significant roles in determining their pharmacokinetic properties. Significant biological interactions and biological functions mediated by glycans are also being directed for therapeutic manipulation in vivo. Examples of carbohydrate-based therapeutics in development include inhibitors of microbial pathogens and their toxins, cancer vaccines, and drugs designed to suppress the immune system for treatment of inflammation and transplant rejection.

Sugar rich molecules like including glycolipids, glycoproteins, and proteoglycans in the nervous system have significant roles during growth, redevelopment and synaptic plasticity. The structural diversity of the carbohydrate moieties renders them ideally suited as stage-specific biomarkers for numerous cell types leading to mediate interactions between recognition molecules, thereby contributing to the formation of a complex molecular structure at the cell surface and in the extracellular matrix of the cell. The exceptional structural diversity of glycan chains and related moieties allows for huge advanced possibilities that can leads to cell interactions along with cell matrix interactions.

Sugars were very significant in the early history of immunology in defining the identity of antigens which are identified by antibodies. So the skill of these antibodies to uniquely identify glycans and carbohydrate related molecules was exploited in studies defining the size of the antigen-binding site. Many carbohydrate-binding proteins, or lectins, have been recognized on the surfaces of immune cells which intensify the significance of sugars in both innate and adaptive immune responses in development of modern vaccines and immunological therapeutics. Currently glycobiologists and immunologists are now collaborating widely to explore this crucial field in the area of immunobiology.

Glycans are constituents of many bio-therapeutic agents, extending from natural products to molecules based on rational design to recombinant glycoproteins. The glycan constituents of these agents can be significant factors of their biological activity and therapeutic efficacy. Biochemistry and Glycobiology encompasses a multidisciplinary study of carbohydrate-binding proteins (lectins), glycolipids and some other plant proteins that are capable of relating with endogenous or foreign (macro) molecules. The importance of the research is on protein-carbohydrate interaction and their contribution in signalling processes in plants or in plant protection. Based on the generated fundamental awareness new approaches are being developed to shield crop plants against pests and diseases.

Generally glycans are vital constituents of various bio therapeutic agents, conflicting from natural products to molecules based on various rational designs to recombinant glycoproteins and glycoconjugates. The glycan constituents of these agents can be significant elements of their biological activity and therapeutic ability. Modern patenting of novel therapeutics typically requires elucidations of the arrangement of matter in the claimed molecule for approval. Many significant progresses can be seen in the areas of imaging, structure prediction technologies and advancement of hybrid methods to recognise the structure and role of carbohydrates and proteins.