The Blessed Union of Glycobiology and Immunology: A Marriage That Worked

Abstract

In this article, we discuss the main aspects regarding the recognition of cell surface glycoconjugates and the immunomodulation of responses against the progression of certain pathologies, such as cancer and infectious diseases. In the first part, we talk about different aspects of glycoconjugates and delve deeper into the importance of N-glycans in cancer immunotherapy. Then, we describe two important lectin families that have been very well studied in the last 20 years. Examples include the sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin (Ig)-like lectins (siglecs), and galectins. Finally, we discuss a topic that needs to be better addressed in the field of glycoimmunology: the impact of oncofetal antigens on the cells of the immune system. New findings in this area are of great importance for advancement, especially in the field of oncology, since it is already known that cellular interactions mediated by carbohydrate–carbohydrate and/or carbohydrate proteins are able to modulate the progression of different types of cancer in events that compromise the functionality of the immune responses.

Keywords

• glycoimmunology
• glycoconjugates
• lectins
• galectins
• siglecs
• oncofetal antigens