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Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Bioinformatics Resources for the Study of Glycan-Mediated Protein Interactions
Published on: January 20, 2022
GlyGen: a knowledgebase linking glycan data with protein and gene data to reveal novel biological connections
Raja Mazumder1, Rene Ranzinger2, Robel Robel Kahsay2
1Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
Abstract:
Glycans influence protein structure and function, modulate tissue development, regulate organ function, drive pathogen interactions, control inflammation and immunity, and impact most disease processes. However, glycan and glycosylation data are frequently difficult to access, existing across heterogeneous resources, with inconsistent representation and limited linkage to the genes, proteins, and protein sites that define their biological context. This fragmentation limits integration with genomics, proteomics, and other omics data, and constrains the discovery of glycan-mediated relationships. GlyGen is a knowledgebase designed to harmonize and integrate glycan, protein, and glycosylation data within a unified, glycosylation-centric data model. The model currently captures 58,841 glycans, 243,702 proteins, and 183,573 glycosylation sites, and extends to motifs, diseases, biomarkers, as well as germline and somatic sequence variations. Data are collected from public resources and literature, standardized using identifiers such as UniProt and GlyTouCan accessions, and integrated through ontology-driven workflows with evidence tracking and attribution. GlyGen supports free access via a web portal, APIs, downloads, and semantic web technologies. The current release (www.glygen.org) integrates diverse datasets across 16 organisms with extensive cross-references and provides an interoperable framework for advancing the integration of glycoscience into the broader biomedical data ecosystem.
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