3.4.3 The situation of glycomics in TCM research
At present, the application of glycomics in the study of TCM state is
still in its infancy, and there are still many problems to be solved.
- Because the research of glycomics requires high-throughput detection,
the research cost is high, and the equipment cost is high, it is
difficult for scientific research units to have sufficient funds to
introduce related equipment for research.
- At present, in the study of TCM state, the application of glycomics is
not much, and the data scale is not large, so it is difficult to form
a complete database.
- The data sample size of glycomics is small, and the conclusion is not
comprehensive, so it is difficult to interpret the material basis of
TCM state as a whole.
- At present, there are few literatures on the study of TCM state
through glycomics, and a large number of physiological state studies
are needed as the background to establish the data model.4.Problems and prospects of Chinese glycomics researchStudies on the structure-activity relationship of glycans have shown
that glycans often exhibit functional and structural overlap, that is,
glycans of a certain structure may have many different functions due
to different synthesis sites or binding substrates ; or conversely,
several different polysaccharides with similar structures may produce
the same function. Therefore, from the perspective of disease
diagnosis, therapeutic drug and reagent development, the bottleneck
hindering the transformation of glycan-based clinical applications
mainly exists in the description framework of synthesis methods,
analytical methods and biological functions. At the same time, the
integration of the above three research methods is particularly
important for elucidating the structure-activity relationship of
glycans and developing innovative drugs and diagnostic reagents.4.1 Chinese glycan research needs more mature synthesis
methods.At present, some progress has been made in the study of the function
of glycosides by different means. However, unlike nucleic acids and
proteins, sugar chains do not have synthetic templates. In organisms,
the synthesis of glycans is produced by the synergy of biological
synthetases, without the assistance or replication of templates, which
is completely different from the synthesis of genes and proteins.
Therefore, complex glycans cannot be synthesized by a simple
amplification strategy. The existing glycan synthesis methods can only
use chemical synthesis, enzyme catalytic cooperation and microbial
synthesis. These methods have their own advantages, but they all have
certain limitations. To carry out large-scale research on the efficacy
of glycans, new low-cost and efficient synthesis techniques must be
developed to easily obtain glycans for research.4.2 Chinese glycan research needs more perfect analytical
methods.The diversity and complexity of the structural units, chemical bonds
and spatial composition of glycans make it very challenging to analyze
the composition and structure of glycans in vivo and in vitro. At
present, mass spectrometry (imaging), high performance liquid
chromatography, capillary electrophoresis (CE), chip, MR and
orthogonal labeling are used to coordinate each other and take their
own advantages to carry out comprehensive analysis of glycans, but
they still often encounter the dilemma of blind people. For example,
the study of N-glycosylation of a certain locus has proved to be
difficult. Because two N-glycan sequences are located adjacent to each
other and are separated by only one arginine residue. At different
sites, trypsin decomposition produces peptide chains of different
sizes and lengths, which cannot be effectively fragmented and detected
in mass spectrometry. Because of its complexity, it also poses a
serious challenge to software-based detection. In addition to
techniques such as instrumental detection, bioinformatics algorithms
and techniques for genomics and proteomics cannot be directly used in
glycomics due to the complexity of glycan structure. Therefore, it is
necessary to develop more perfect analytical methods under more
disciplinary exchanges and teamwork, and to obtain the functional and
structural relationships of glycans through innovative technologies
and automated workflows[67].4.3 The elucidation of the biological function of glycans
requires a new description framework.In organisms, glycans mainly function at the multicellular level and
are mostly carried out in a multivalent interaction manner. If we use
the classic in vitro cell model of the pharmaceutical industry, the
screening method of small molecule lead compounds, and the screening
method of polysaccharide binding agents with a stoichiometric ratio of
1:1, it is possible to ignore the crucial information of the role of
complex polysaccharides in the study of specific biological processes.
For example, in the design of compounds that inhibit leukocyte homing
and extravasation, it is necessary to consider both multivalence and
structural complexity. Therefore, a new description framework for the
biological function of glycans is another challenge to apply the
results of glycan research to drug development.4.4 The study of Chinese glycans requires more in-depth
international exchanges and cooperationGlycomics is a newly born discipline, and its development is still in
its infancy. Basic research is not perfect, and research methods are
relatively few. Up to now, there are only a few network tools and
databases for glycomics, and the relevant data of each database cannot
be shared due to the lack of consistent algorithms. These factors
seriously limit the development of glycomics. Sugar chains have
important biological functions and have shown attractive prospects in
the prevention and treatment of tumors, AIDS and other stubborn
diseases. The study of sugar chains will be related to the healthy
development of all mankind, but its mechanism of action for these
diseases is still unclear. The synergy of carbohydrates, such as the
interaction between carbohydrates and proteins, carbohydrates and
carbohydrates, is involved in many physiological and pathological
processes. The adhesion between cells and the interaction between
molecules involved in carbohydrates can be blocked by using the
corresponding carbohydrate molecules, so that some physiological and
pathological processes cannot occur. In-depth study of the role of
sugar chains remains to be further explored from the level of
molecular biology, which requires a lot of capital and talent
investment. Only by different countries to jointly study and explore
glycomics and continue to exchange cooperation and data sharing, can
the mystery of glycomics be uncovered as soon as possible to achieve
the health and safety of all mankind.
It is believed that with the in-depth development of glycomics, the
innovation of glycan analysis technology and the development of
related instruments, there will be new breakthroughs and progress in
glycomics research. In-depth study of glycoprotein or glycan structure
and its mechanism of action is of great significance for revealing
complex life phenomena, preventing and treating diseases.