Identification of Target Proteins of Glycosyltransferases Using Functional Glycomics by Gene Expression Regulation

Abstract

Comprehensive analyses of proteins from cells and tissues are the most effective means of elucidating the expression patterns of individual disease-related proteins. On the other hand, the simultaneous separation and characterization of proteins by electrophoresis followed by MS analysis is one of the fundamental approaches to proteomic analysis. However, these analyses do not permit the complete structural identification of glycans in glycoproteins or their structural characterization. Over half of all known proteins are glycosylated and glycan analyses of glycoproteins are requisite for fundamental proteomics studies. The analysis of glycan structural alterations in glycoproteins is becoming increasingly important in terms of biomarkers, quality control of glycoprotein drugs, and the development of new drugs. However, the usual glycomics approach which characterizes and/or identifies glycans, provides some structural information, but it does not provide any information on the functionality of glycans. Therefore, in order to elucidate the function of glycans, functional glycomics which identifies the target glycoproteins of glycosyltransferases and characterizes functional roles of glycans represents a promising approach. In this review, we show examples of a functional glycomics technique using α1,6 fucosyltransferase gene (Fut8) in order to identify the target glycoproteins.