Glycosylation is a major post-translational modification and glycans are deeply involved in various biological recognition events because of their diverse structures. One feature of such functional glycan-mediated molecular recognition is interaction between the host immune system and microorganisms during both infection and symbiosis. Indeed, glycans are positioned at the host-microbe interface as they are an integral part of the bacterial cell wall, incorporated in structures such as capsular polysaccharides, lipopolysaccharides, and proteins. Conversely, host glycans often serve as receptors for microbes or toxins. Bacterial glycans can regulate inflammatory processes when they are recognized as microbe-associated molecular patterns, while in other situations microbes cover themselves with host-mimicking glycans to escape from host immune recognition acting as a wolf in sheep's clothing. Finally, some bacteria and viruses use glycosidases to liberate host glycans as a carbon source or for immune evasion.
Glycans are involved in at every step of infection. Thus, it is essential to clarify their roles in pathogenesis to develop strategies for prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. One of the most successful examples in this regard has been the application of capsular polysaccharides in glycoconjugate vaccines. The structures and composition of glycans differs among microorganisms, cell types and animal species. Since glycans are a post-translational product, their composition and structure are not directly encoded in the genome. Consequently, elucidating a particular glycan structure or even an entire glycan repertoire requires a combination of physical, chemical, and enzymatic methods, which is currently mainly restricted to specialized laboratories. Compared to human glycans, microorganisms have a much more diverse glycan and glycosidase repertoire, requiring in-depth knowledge and experience in both microbiology and glycobiology. To solve such complex and interdisciplinary problems, the Programs of Excellence in Glycosciences in the United States, as one example, has supported the formation of interdisciplinary programs to foster networks of glycobiologists and microbiologists. These programs have improved research strategy and basic technology for glycan analysis, resulting in formation of important databases such as CAZy, GlycoBase, and GlyTouCan, along with computational pipelines. In this research topic, we aim to bring together papers on the topic glycan-mediated host-microbe interaction.
This Research Topic encourages collection of studies that include original research, perspectives, (mini-) reviews, commentaries, and opinion papers that investigate and discuss the following:
• Role of glycans, lectins, and glycosidases in colonization, infection, inflammation, or immunity
• Evolution of glycans, lectins, and glycosidases in host-pathogen interactions
• Cutting-edge techniques or unique approaches for investigation of host and/or microbial glycans
• Fundamental analyses on the structure and/or biosynthesis of bacterial glycan structures (e.g. capsular polysaccharides, lipopolysaccharides, glycosylated proteins)
• Glycan databases and computational resources obtained with a bioinformatics approach
Glycosylation is a major post-translational modification and glycans are deeply involved in various biological recognition events because of their diverse structures. One feature of such functional glycan-mediated molecular recognition is interaction between the host immune system and microorganisms during both infection and symbiosis. Indeed, glycans are positioned at the host-microbe interface as they are an integral part of the bacterial cell wall, incorporated in structures such as capsular polysaccharides, lipopolysaccharides, and proteins. Conversely, host glycans often serve as receptors for microbes or toxins. Bacterial glycans can regulate inflammatory processes when they are recognized as microbe-associated molecular patterns, while in other situations microbes cover themselves with host-mimicking glycans to escape from host immune recognition acting as a wolf in sheep's clothing. Finally, some bacteria and viruses use glycosidases to liberate host glycans as a carbon source or for immune evasion.
Glycans are involved in at every step of infection. Thus, it is essential to clarify their roles in pathogenesis to develop strategies for prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. One of the most successful examples in this regard has been the application of capsular polysaccharides in glycoconjugate vaccines. The structures and composition of glycans differs among microorganisms, cell types and animal species. Since glycans are a post-translational product, their composition and structure are not directly encoded in the genome. Consequently, elucidating a particular glycan structure or even an entire glycan repertoire requires a combination of physical, chemical, and enzymatic methods, which is currently mainly restricted to specialized laboratories. Compared to human glycans, microorganisms have a much more diverse glycan and glycosidase repertoire, requiring in-depth knowledge and experience in both microbiology and glycobiology. To solve such complex and interdisciplinary problems, the Programs of Excellence in Glycosciences in the United States, as one example, has supported the formation of interdisciplinary programs to foster networks of glycobiologists and microbiologists. These programs have improved research strategy and basic technology for glycan analysis, resulting in formation of important databases such as CAZy, GlycoBase, and GlyTouCan, along with computational pipelines. In this research topic, we aim to bring together papers on the topic glycan-mediated host-microbe interaction.
This Research Topic encourages collection of studies that include original research, perspectives, (mini-) reviews, commentaries, and opinion papers that investigate and discuss the following:
• Role of glycans, lectins, and glycosidases in colonization, infection, inflammation, or immunity
• Evolution of glycans, lectins, and glycosidases in host-pathogen interactions
• Cutting-edge techniques or unique approaches for investigation of host and/or microbial glycans
• Fundamental analyses on the structure and/or biosynthesis of bacterial glycan structures (e.g. capsular polysaccharides, lipopolysaccharides, glycosylated proteins)
• Glycan databases and computational resources obtained with a bioinformatics approach
