The N-glycans of lactoferrin: More than just a sweet decoration.

The N-glycans of lactoferrin: More than just a sweet decoration. Biochem Cell Biol. 2020 May 28;: Authors: Zlatina K, Galuska SP Abstract Nearly all extracellular proteins undergo posttranslational modification with sugar chains during their transit through the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus. These "sweet" modifications not only influence the activity of its carrier protein, but they themselves often have bioactivity, independent of the carrier function. Lactoferrin belongs to the group of glycoproteins and is modified with several different N-glycans. This review summarizes several studies dealing with the diverse glycosylation patterns of lactoferrin from different origins and the potential impact of these posttranslational modifications on the functionality of lactoferrin. A special emphasis is placed on the differences between human and bovine lactoferrin, since the latter form is often selected for the development of novel therapeutic approaches in humans. For this reason, the potential impact of the bovine-specific glycosylation patterns on the observed heterogeneous effects of lactoferrin in humans is discussed within this review. PMID: 32464076 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Biochemistry and Cell Biology - Category: Biochemistry Authors: Tags: Biochem Cell Biol Source Type: research