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Related Concept Videos

Glycocalyx and its Functions01:14

Glycocalyx and its Functions

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The glycocalyx is a carbohydrate-rich, fuzzy-appearing layer on the outer surface of the cell membrane. It is highly hydrophilic, because of this it attracts large amounts of water to the cell's surface. This aids the cell's interaction with the watery environment and also helps it to obtain substances dissolved in the water. It is also important for cell identification, self/non-self determination, and embryonic development and is used in cell-to-cell attachments to form tissues.
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Glycans, a class of complex heterogeneous molecules, can be covalently attached to proteins to form glycosylated proteins that regulate various physiological and pathological processes. Glycosylated proteins or glycoproteins comprise N-linked and O-linked oligosaccharides. O-glycosylation is the most common type of protein glycosylation. Here, glycans attach to the oxygen atom of the hydroxyl groups of Serine or Threonine residues. O-linked glycosylation occurs later in protein processing,...
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Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), also known as mucopolysaccharides, are long and linear polymers comprising of specific repeating disaccharides - the amino sugar that can be N-acetylglucosamine or N-acetylgalactosamine, and a uronic acid that is usually glucuronic acid or iduronic acid.
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Oligosaccharide Assembly01:24

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Protein glycosylation starts in the ER lumen and continues in the Golgi apparatus. Glycosyltransferases catalyze the addition of sugar molecules or glycosylation of proteins. Usually, these enzymes add sugars to the hydroxyl groups of selected serine or threonine residues to form O-linked glycans or the amino groups of asparagine residues to form N-linked glycans. Different positions on the same polypeptide chain can contain differently linked glycans.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 5, 2025

Profiling of Permethylated Mucin O-glycans Using Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry
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Mucin glycans drive oral microbial community composition and function.

Chloe M Wu1, Kelsey M Wheeler1,2, Gerardo Cárcamo-Oyarce1

  • 1Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.

NPJ Biofilms and Microbiomes
|March 24, 2023
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Mucin glycans in mucus shape the human microbiome, supporting diverse microbial communities and resisting disease-associated changes. This highlights glycans as a key host mechanism for maintaining microbial balance.

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Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Glycobiology
  • Host-Microbe Interactions

Background:

  • The human microbiome's composition is crucial for health.
  • The role of host-produced mucus and its components, like mucins and glycans, in managing the microbiome is understudied.
  • Mucins contain diverse glycan structures with potential regulatory functions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how mucins and their glycans influence oral microbial community composition.
  • To understand the mechanisms by which mucins modulate the microbiome.
  • To explore the potential of mucin glycans as a therapeutic target for microbiome health.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a culture-based system to study mucin-microbe interactions.
  • Analyzed the impact of different tissue-derived mucins and isolated mucin glycan libraries.
  • Assessed microbial community composition and metabolic diversity.

Main Results:

  • Mucin glycans promote the coexistence of diverse microbes and prevent disease-associated shifts.
  • Specific glycan patterns differentially modulate microbial composition.
  • Mucins act as nutrients, organize spatial structure, and may limit microbial antagonism.

Conclusions:

  • Mucin glycans are a critical host mechanism for shaping and maintaining healthy microbial communities.
  • Specific mucin glycan structures are important for microbiome modulation.
  • Mucin glycans represent a potential therapeutic avenue for microbiome interventions.