Detection of Glycans with Single Molecule Nanopore Sensing. Glycans play diverse and critical roles in many cellular functions. The different functions of glycans correspond to their complex structure, which results from differences in structure, branching, regio- and stereochemistry, and flexibility. This unique structure is a challenge for structural analysis of glycans.
Recently, a joint research by Prof. QING Guangyan and Professor LIANG Xinmiao from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have developed a method for identifying glycans based on the detection of single nanopore molecules through the glycan derivatization strategy.
The study was published in Nature Communications on March 28.
Research on the structure of glycans using single-molecule nanopore systems has attracted potential interest. However, nanopore understanding of glycans has made little progress in the past twelve years. Only a small number of cases targeting either high molecular weight polysaccharides or some monosaccharides have been reported. For small glycans indicating shows the braces on the basis of sleep The GLYCANA is used by the GLYCANA.
To pick up the challenge, the researchers of this work is introduced by connecting a tag of tags and small glyces by easy and simple reactions. The labeled glycan was detected by the aerolysin nanopore model that exhibits a strong nanopore barrier signal.
The researchers obtained diffusion-based blocking current and residence time-like fingerprint maps from single nanopore molecule blocking events. They then identified different glycan isomers, glycans of different lengths, and single-branched glycans, either independently or using machine learning techniques.
Furthermore, they revealed that many cation-π interactions between the aromatic tag of the glycan and the K238 residues of the nanopore interface delay the translation of the glycan label and help in the detection. “This study pushes the boundaries of nanopore research beyond its traditional focus on nucleic acids and proteins and opens up its potential in the field of glycomics and glycosciences, which can open the way for nanopore sequencing glycans,” Prof. QING said.
Source: Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
