The sugar chains present on the cell surface are also called "cell faces", and their structures change dramatically depending on the type and state of the cells.Differences in sugar chains, including blood types and tumor markers, have been widely used as excellent biomarkers.However, among the cells, tissue stem cells that produce differentiated cells were difficult to analyze sugar chains because only a small amount of sample was obtained in less than XNUMX% of all cells in adult tissue.

　In the research, a new technology called "lectin array method" was used to comprehensively analyze the sugar chain modification pattern of stem cells isolated from the skin of young and old mice.Specifically, lectin, which is a sugar-binding protein, was immobilized on a slide glass and bound to a stem cell membrane protein to detect the sugar chain structure of stem cells with high sensitivity and rapidity.

　As a result of profiling the sugar chain pattern in skin stem cells, it was discovered that "Glycomb shift" occurs in which the sugar chain modification pattern of skin stem cells dynamically changes with aging.Changes in sugar chains are also a functionally important change, as cell proliferation is significantly reduced in skin stem cells with an aging sugar chain pattern after the Glycomb shift.He also identified lectins that recognize saccharides that change significantly with age, and states that these can be new biomarkers for aging.

　It is expected that this result will lead to the detection of the aging state of skin stem cells targeting sugar chains and the control of aging.

Paper information:[Aging Cell] Glycome profiling bylectin microarrayrevealsdynamic glycan alterationsduring epidermalstem cellaging