SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REPRESENTING N-LINKED GLYCAN STRUCTURES

摘要

A fixed-length alpha-numeric code for representing N-linked glycan structurescommonly found in secreted glycoproteins from mammalian cell cultures. Thecode employs a pre-assigned alpha-numeric index to represent the monosaccharidesattached in different branches to the core glycan structure. The present branch-centricrepresentation allows visualization of the structure while the numerical natureof the code makes it machine readable. A difference operator can be defined toquantitatively differentiate between glycan structures for further analysis.The code can be incorporated in a retrievable format into an information managementsystem. A method is also provided for representing the structure of at least aportion of an oligosaccharide, using the fixed-length alpha-numeric code.