Large glycomics datasets as a tool to understand the function of glycans
Author Identifier (ORCID)
Wei Wang: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1430-1360
Abstract
Historically, glycomics has lagged behind other omics fields, owing to analytical challenges. However, recent technological advances are rapidly transforming the field, enabling a growing number of large-scale studies to harness the wealth of information encoded by glycans. In this Review, we provide an overview of the current state of large-scale glycomics and its role in understanding the functional importance of glycans. We discuss the main challenges in high-throughput glycoanalytical methods and highlight recent progress, with a particular emphasis on standardization and reproducibility. Special attention is given to the necessity of large, well-designed and ideally longitudinal and multicohort studies that use rigorous statistical approaches to uncover robust biological associations. Finally, we conclude with selected applications and perspectives, emphasizing the potential of large-scale glycomics to drive biomarker discovery and enhance the understanding of glycan-mediated biology. (Figure presented.)
Keywords
glycomics, glycans, biomarker discovery, high throughput analysis, systems biology, omics technologies
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
1-1-2026
Publication Title
Nature Chemical Biology
Publisher
Nature
School
Centre for Precision Health / School of Medical and Health Sciences
Funding Information
This work was supported by the following grants from the European Commission: GlycanSwitch 101071386 (G.L.), WORMVACS2.0 101080784 (M.P.-B.), GLYCOBOOST 101214245 (M.P.-B. and T.Š.), INITIALISE 101094099 (T.Š.), Croatian National Foundation grant HRZZ IP-2022-10-1358 IgGeneNET (V.Z.) and the European Regional Development Fund grant ‘CRISPR/Cas9-CasMouse’ KK.01.1.1.04.0085 (V.Z).
Copyright
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Comments
Pučić-Baković, M., Štambuk, T., Ioannidis, J. P. A., Zoldoš, V., Wang, W., & Lauc, G. (2026). Large glycomics datasets as a tool to understand the function of glycans. Nature Chemical Biology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-026-02217-x