Glycobiology, Lipids & Metabolic Disorders

Glycoconjugates, Glycomics and Metabolomics

Glycomics parallel to proteomics and genomics is the systematic study of all the glycan structures of a given cell type or organism and is a subset of glycobiology. Sugars are generally linked to other types of biological molecule to form glycoconjugates. The various enzymatic process of glycosylation creates sugars or saccharides linked to themselves and to other molecules by the glycosidic bond, finally producing glycans. Proteoglycans, glycoproteins, and glycolipids are the most abundant glycoconjugates found in mammalian cells. Glycoconjugates have been shown to be important and play prominent role in cell-cell interactions due to the presence on the cell surface of various glycan binding receptors in addition to the glycoconjugates themselves.