Mechanoglycobiology: The Roles of Cell Surface Glycans in Mechanosensing and Mechanotransduction

Mechanoglycobiology has emerged as a rapidly expanding interdisciplinary field that involves chemistry, biology, and engineering. Despite the great advancements in this field, in-depth investigation of mechanoglycobiology remains challenging due to the complex nature of glycans and cell glycocalyx, as well as the difficulty to mechanically target these biomolecules. To address the issues, novel methods and models have been established to facilitate the investigation of glycan-mediated mechanosensing and mechanotransduction. Recently, a new, metabolic glycoengineering-based approach has been developed to selectively label cell surface glycans. This enables the application of molecularly specific acoustic tweezing cytometry to exert targeted mechanical forces to understand how mechanical actuation of glycans influences cellular activities. This approach is applicable to different glycans and cell types and, therefore, can have a broad impact. The current perspective highlights how recent developments in mechanoglycobiology may improve the knowledge and appreciation of the significance of glycans in mechanotransduction as well as the potential applications of mechanoglycobiology in medicine.