Elucidating Human Milk Oligosaccharide biosynthetic genes through network-based multi-omics integration.

ABSTRACT: Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) are abundant carbohydrates fundamental to infant health and development. Although these oligosaccharides were discovered more than half a century ago, their biosynthesis in the mammary gland remains largely uncharacterized. Here, we use a systems biology framework that integrates glycan and RNA expression data to construct an HMO biosynthetic network and predict glycosyltransferases involved. To accomplish this, we construct models describing the most likely pathways for the synthesis of the oligosaccharides accounting for >95% of the HMO content in human milk. Through our models, we propose candidate genes for elongation, branching, fucosylation, and sialylation of HMOs. Our model aggregation approach recovers 2 of 2 previously known gene-enzyme relation

SUBMITTER: Kellman BP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9068700 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature