Data analysis of large-scale glycan-sample interactions

Abstract

Although most glycan research has focused on a few interactions between glycans and samples, recent technology has made it possible to observe many glycansample interactions at once. Consortium for Functional Glycomics (CFG) has collected data and compiled a database that contains glycan-sample interactions for more than three thousand samples. The large CFG database gives us "birds-eye view" of glycan interactions and the data from this database can be used to generate new hypothesis about interactions between glycans and samples or provide new rules about protein binding sites on glycans. This paper introduces computational techniques for analyzing large datasets and demonstrates that these techniques can be used to find interactions without prior knowledge about those interactions. The results in this paper indicate that collaboration between computational analysis and experimental evidence can be used to open the new door into glycan research. ©2011 FCCA.