Symbol nomenclature for glycan representation
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Bioinformatics Resources for the Study of Glycan-Mediated Protein Interactions
Published on: January 20, 2022
Ajit Varki1, Richard D Cummings, Jeffrey D Esko
1Glycobiology Research and Training Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0687, USA. a1varki@ucsd.edu
Abstract:
The glycan symbol nomenclature proposed by Harvey et al. in these pages has relative advantages and disadvantages. The use of symbols to depict glycans originated from Kornfeld in 1978, was systematized in the First Edition of "Essentials of Glycobiology" and updated for the second edition, with input from relevant organizations such as the Consortium for Functional Glycomics. We also note that >200 illustrations in the second edition have already been published using our nomenclature and are available for download at PubMed.
Related Concept Videos
Protein Glycosylation
Glycosylation occurs in...
Oligosaccharide Assembly
Multiple sugar molecules that may or may...
Proteoglycans
What are Carbohydrates?
Nomenclature of Carboxylic Acid Derivatives: Amides and Nitriles
The IUPAC and common names of amides are derived from the parent carboxylic acid, by replacing the suffix “oic acid” and “ic acid,” respectively, with “amide.” In the following example, the IUPAC name ethanamide is derived from ethanoic acid, and the common name, acetamide, is obtained from acetic acid.
¹H NMR: Pople Notation
A proton...

