Tissue heterogeneity is fundamental for the development of multicellular organisms but presents considerable complexity for our understanding of biology and disease mechanisms, including cancer. One of the largest sources of tissue heterogeneity arises from post-translational glycosylation of proteins (attachment of a glycan structure during protein synthesis). Yet, substantial gaps remain in our knowledge of glycans. Proteoglycans are glycan-protein hybrids with long, linear glycan chains that govern multiple functions in biology. However, the structure and biochemical properties of these glycans provide significant challenges for their isolation and characterisation. Glycomics (the comprehensive study of the glycome) offers the potential to provide the global glycosylation status of a patient or sample and shed new light on disease mechanisms and treatment efficacy to guide precision medicine. The GlycoMap project aims to address the substantial knowledge gap in protein glycosylation data of proteoglycans by developing an integrated glycomics workflow from a single sample that includes proteoglycan analyses compatible with other glycomics. The mission and design of the GlycoMap project was to train the researcher, who has a background in proteoglycan biology and bioinformatics, with expanded skills and expertise in other glycan types (N-/O-glycomics), organoid biology, hi-resolution 3D imaging and advanced bioinformatics, augmenting her future career opportunities, as well as establishing an integrated glycomics workflow to support multiple glycan analyses (multi-glycomics), diagnostics and the development of novel treatments for human health and disease. The developed platform has high potential in the discovery of novel disease diagnostics and evaluation of treatment efficacies towards precision medicine for many diseases including cancer, sepsis, kidney and neurological diseases in addition to increasing our fundamental understanding of tissue development and organoid models.
