Breast Milk Oligosaccharides Contain Immunomodulatory Glucuronic Acid and LacdiNAc.

Jin C, Lundstrøm J, Korhonen E, Luis AS, Bojar D

Mol. Cell Proteomics 22 (9) 100635 [2023-09-00; online 2023-08-18]

Breast milk is abundant with functionalized milk oligosaccharides (MOs) to nourish and protect the neonate. Yet we lack a comprehensive understanding of the repertoire and evolution of MOs across Mammalia. We report ∼400 MO-species associations (>100 novel structures) from milk glycomics of nine mostly understudied species: alpaca, beluga whale, black rhinoceros, bottlenose dolphin, impala, L'Hoest's monkey, pygmy hippopotamus, domestic sheep, and striped dolphin. This revealed the hitherto unknown existence of the LacdiNAc motif (GalNAcβ1-4GlcNAc) in MOs of all species except alpaca, sheep, and striped dolphin, indicating the widespread occurrence of this potentially antimicrobial motif in MOs. We also characterize glucuronic acid-containing MOs in the milk of impala, dolphins, sheep, and rhinoceros, previously only reported in cows. We demonstrate that these GlcA-MOs exhibit potent immunomodulatory effects. Our study extends the number of known MOs by >15%. Combined with >1900 curated MO-species associations, we characterize MO motif distributions, presenting an exhaustive overview of MO biodiversity.

Glycoproteomics and MS Proteomics [Collaborative]

PubMed 37597722

DOI 10.1016/j.mcpro.2023.100635

Crossref 10.1016/j.mcpro.2023.100635

pmc: PMC10509713
pii: S1535-9476(23)00146-9


Publications 9.5.0