Current Insights in Mammalian Glycosylation: Implication of Glycoproteomics as Next-Generation Biomarkers in Diabetes Mellitus

Glycosylation, an enzyme-directed, site-specific process is one of the major co-translational and post-translational modifications in proteins. So formed product, glycoproteins, mediate multiple functions of signal transductions, cell association, and inter and intra cell signalling. Glycoproteomics exploits all these biological functions and serves as the next generation diagnostic marker for analyzing proteins that are associated with micro- and macro-vascular complication of diabetes mellitus. This tool can unreveal the secrets of the patterned expression of glycoproteins in healthy and patients with diabetes with secondary complications. The expression profile of several O-linked and Nlinked mammalian glycoproteins delivers the knowledge and helps to create a database for expression in diabetes mellitus, for proposing a mechanistic approach to understanding the cellular pathway severely involved in the regulation of all glycoproteins. This future next generation glycopeptides tool will describe a novel strategy for the quantification of the several glycoproteins based on a specific chemical ligation described as reverse glycoblotting techniques, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, western blotting, multiple reaction monitoring, LC-MS/MS analysis of glycosylated peptides along with lectin chromatography. These recent tools will reveal the expression pattern of several glycoproteins that will serve as a power tool precise diagnosis of diabetes associated complications.