Plasma glycoproteomics makes it possible to detect specific biomarkers in blood plasma based on sugar molecules on proteins, researchers from RadboudUMC and Bruker report in the Journal of Advanced Research.

In our bodies, proteins are often modified after translation (post-translational modifications). In many cases, this involves glycosylation: proteins/peptides are given one or more sugar molecules in their structure, which help, for example, with their folding, stability and transport. In many diseases, proteins are also modified with sugars, which means that these modifications could be used as biomarkers for a particular disease. Researchers at Radboud University Medical Centre and Bruker’s French-German division therefore developed an analytical method - glycoproteomics - to profile glycopeptides in plasma to see if they could use it for diagnostics.