The liver, which has long been known to have a very high regenerative ability, is composed of liver parenchymal cells, called “hepatocytes,” and liver nonparenchymal cells such as hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells, hepatic stellate cells, and Kupffer cells. Liver regeneration is spatiotemporally regulated by cell-to-cell interactions and humoral factors such as cytokines and growth factors. Many of the molecules involved in cell-cell interactions and humoral factor receptors are glycoproteins.
In this second installment of this series, an overview of the GlyCosmos Portal and the MIRAGE initiative will be described. The GlyCosmos Glycoscience Portal is a Web portal for glycoscience data resources, and as a member of the GlySpace Alliance, its data is openly available to the public. GlyCosmos provides access to glycan-related omics data, including glycogenes, glycoproteins, pathways, and diseases. Glycan-related repositories are also available, including GlyTouCan and GlycoPOST, for glycans and glycomics mass spectrometry experiments, respectively. MIRAGE is an initiative to provide standardized guidelines for reporting glycomics experiments. Because GlycoPOST closely works with MIRAGE, both of these are described in this installment.
The natural polysaccharides chitin and chitosan are mucopolysaccharides that are extracted mainly from crab shells and shrimp shells. Both chitin and chitosan have high affinity to the living body and have been extensively studied in various fields. They also have interactions with microorganisms and thus research extends to the agricultural and food realms all over the world. Chitin and chitosan are each found not only in solution form, but also in the form of fibers, porous beads, and sponges, depending on the usage. As the research on chitin and chitosan nanofibers is progressing with cutting-edge technology, the effects of size and specific surface area on expanding the possibilities of application are highly expected.
