Epitope Journals

In the immunological and glycobiological literature, “glycoepitope” is often used to specify the carbohydrate moiety that is recognized by an antibody or by a GBP. The antibody-binding glycoepitopes are also classified as B cell epitopes or antigenic determinants. Conceptually, “glyco-epitome” refers to the entire repertoire of glycoepitopes, including the B cell epitopes and those that are recognized by GBPs. Differing from “glycome,” which covers all the existing carbohydrate molecules in living organisms, glyco-epitome refers to a unique subset of carbohydrates that serve as the sugar signatures for molecular recognition and bio-signal transmission. “Glyco-epitomics” is, thus, an evolving area of glycomics research focusing on identifying, characterizing, and understanding the carbohydrate moieties that serve for multiple levels of bio-communication. The structural aspects of glyco-epitomics focus on the elucidation of the glycan structures that display glyco-epitopes. This research area has been substantially enhanced by the development of advanced profiling and structural characterization strategies. Notably, these include high resolution chromatography methods coupled with exoglycosidase digestions , modern mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy analyses of carbohydrates, and the state-of-art methods of glycan structural modelling. “glyco codes,” the molecular targets of glyco-epitomics study, are not limited to the glyco-epitopes that are defined by anti-glycan antibodies or GBPs. Conceptually, any carbohydrate moiety that plays a role in molecular recognition and bio-communication belongs to this family of bio-communicators. These may include, but are certainly not limited to, the carbohydrates that serve as host receptors of microorganisms and those that are specifically recognized by toxins of various origins. Glycoepitope diversity is, therefore, an evolving area of glycomics research and biomarker discovery. (Denong Wang, Glyco-epitope Diversity: An Evolving Area of Glycomics Research and Biomarker Discovery)

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Last date updated on April, 2024