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Updated: May 14, 2026
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Glycomics-Guided Glycoproteomics Facilitates Comprehensive Profiling of the Glycoproteome in Complex Tumor Microenvironments
Published on: February 7, 2025
Total cellular glycomics allows characterizing cells and streamlining the discovery process for cellular biomarkers
Naoki Fujitani1, Jun-ichi Furukawa, Kayo Araki
1Laboratory of Medical and Functional Glycomics, Graduate School of Advanced Life Science, and Frontier Research Center for Post-Genome Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 001-0021, Japan.
Summary
This study introduces a new mass spectrometry method to analyze cellular glycans, revealing unique glycosylation patterns in stem cells and identifying novel biomarkers for pluripotency.
Area of Science:
- Glycomics
- Biomarker Discovery
- Mass Spectrometry
Background:
- Pluripotency biomarkers are often glycoconjugates, but their exploration is challenging.
- Technical difficulties hinder comprehensive analysis of cellular glycans.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a systematic method for analyzing all major oligosaccharide classes in the cellular glycome.
- To identify novel cellular biomarkers for pluripotency using a glycoconjugate-based approach.
Main Methods:
- Mass spectrometry-based analysis of N- and O-linked glycans, glycosaminoglycans, glycosphingolipids, and free oligosaccharides.
- Analysis of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), and various normal and carcinoma cells.
- Qualitative and quantitative structural analysis of cellular glycomes.
Main Results:
- Cellular glycomes are highly cell-specific, serving as unique cellular descriptors.
- hESCs and hiPSCs exhibit immature, stem cell-specific glycosylation patterns.
- High similarity in glycomes between hESCs and hiPSCs, with hESCs showing greater homogeneity.
- Identification of known pluripotency biomarkers (SSEA-3, -4, -5, Tra-1-60/81) and novel hESC/hiPSC-specific glycans.
Conclusions:
- The developed method enables comprehensive glycomic profiling.
- Glycosylation patterns are valuable for distinguishing cell types and identifying pluripotency markers.
- The findings advance the understanding of stem cell glycosylation and biomarker discovery.
