About this Research Topic
Glycosylation is the most common post-translational protein modification and virtually all immune receptors and membrane-bound proteins are glycosylated, implicating an essential role in immune cell function for carbohydrates. Glycan-mediated interactions pose a novel mechanism to regulate plasma membrane organization and downstream signaling cascades, and several publications have recently explored their role in governing immune cell function. Lectins, a family of carbohydrate-binding proteins including galectins, selectins or siglecs amongst others, interact with sugar residues present in extracellular proteins, forming membrane domains, called lattices, that modulate the function and interaction of immune cell glycoproteins.
Nearly all immune functions, such as pathogen recognition, migration, or antigen presentation, are dependent on (glyco)proteins at the plasma membrane. Recent years have also highlighted various roles for glycans in other immune processes such as antibody function, T cell activation, and differentiation, MHC antigen presentation or cancer immune evasion. Furthermore, besides functioning as a barrier, the plasma membrane is also essential for cellular communication of immune cells with their environment and with other immune cells. Namely, immune synapse formation between dendritic cells and lymphocytes or between B and T cells relies on the timely assembly of glycosylated membrane components at specific microdomains.
The recent discovery of the mechanisms by which glycans impact key cellular functions has driven a renewed interest in the field of glycobiology, exemplified by an impressive boom in relevant publications. Moreover, valorization of their previously unidentified biomedical potential has led to the development of novel glycan-based cancer and immunotherapies.
In this Research Topic we aim to incorporate the contributions from leading glycan immune experts using biochemistry, immunology, microscopy and molecular tools to explore the function of glycan-mediated interactions in determining immune cell function.
Authors are invited to submit research articles, reviews and opinion articles related, but not limited to, the following topics:
• Investigation on membrane organization in immune cell function
• Proteomic analysis
• Imaging
• Antibody engineering
• Cancer immunity and immunotherapy
• Innate and adaptive immunity
• Infection and inflammation
Please Note: Manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (clinical cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section.
Nearly all immune functions, such as pathogen recognition, migration, or antigen presentation, are dependent on (glyco)proteins at the plasma membrane. Recent years have also highlighted various roles for glycans in other immune processes such as antibody function, T cell activation, and differentiation, MHC antigen presentation or cancer immune evasion. Furthermore, besides functioning as a barrier, the plasma membrane is also essential for cellular communication of immune cells with their environment and with other immune cells. Namely, immune synapse formation between dendritic cells and lymphocytes or between B and T cells relies on the timely assembly of glycosylated membrane components at specific microdomains.
The recent discovery of the mechanisms by which glycans impact key cellular functions has driven a renewed interest in the field of glycobiology, exemplified by an impressive boom in relevant publications. Moreover, valorization of their previously unidentified biomedical potential has led to the development of novel glycan-based cancer and immunotherapies.
In this Research Topic we aim to incorporate the contributions from leading glycan immune experts using biochemistry, immunology, microscopy and molecular tools to explore the function of glycan-mediated interactions in determining immune cell function.
Authors are invited to submit research articles, reviews and opinion articles related, but not limited to, the following topics:
• Investigation on membrane organization in immune cell function
• Proteomic analysis
• Imaging
• Antibody engineering
• Cancer immunity and immunotherapy
• Innate and adaptive immunity
• Infection and inflammation
Please Note: Manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (clinical cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section.
Keywords: Glycosylation, Glycan-mediated interactions, galectins
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
