肝病糖组学的研究进展

Altered glycomics in liver disease

慢性肝病是严重困扰人类健康的疾病.肝脏是合成蛋白质的重要场所,而糖基化是最重要的蛋白质翻译后修饰之一.人体中约70%的蛋白质翻译后进行了糖基化修饰.肝脏受损会导致蛋白质糖基化的异常.研究表明在肝脏的炎症、纤维化、癌变的过程中,患者肝组织、血清以及唾液中出现糖蛋白糖链结构和功能的改变,这种变化与肝病的发生发展具有关联性.寻找非侵入型的肝病诊断标志物成为糖组学研究热点.本文主要从糖组学角度评述常见肝病(肝炎、肝纤维化/肝硬化、原发性肝癌、酒精性肝病和脂肪肝)发生发展过程中蛋白质糖基化的改变的研究进展.

Chronic liver diseases are a serious health problem worldwide. The biosynthesis of proteins takes place in the liver, and protein glycosylation is the most common form of post-translational modification of proteins, with as many as 70% of all human proteins estimated to contain one or more glycan chains. Protein glycosylation is the enzymatic addition of sugars or oligosaccharides to proteins, which increases the diversity of the proteome to a level unmatched by any other post-translational modifications because of the various aspects of modification, including glycosidic bond, glycan composition, glycan structure, and glycan length. Changes in the glycan structures of proteins are an indication for liver damage, which plays an important role in the pathogenesis and progression of various liver diseases. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the altered protein glycosylation in different etiologies of hepatitis, liver fibrosis/ cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, alcoholic and fatty liver diseases based on the analysis of serum and saliva using the glycomics technology.