Immunomodulatory role of glycoRNAs in the brain

Abstract

Glycosylation of lipids and proteins significantly increases the molecular diversity in the brain. Membrane-localized glycoconjugates facilitate critical neuro-immune interactions. Therefore, glycodysregulation is increasingly recognized as a novel hallmark of various acute and chronic neurological diseases. Although RNAs are heavily modified, they are never thought to be substrates for glycosylation due to their inaccessibility to the glycosylation machinery in the Golgi apparatus. The astonishing discovery of cell surface glycoRNAs opened new avenues for glycomedicine. This review highlighted the key features of GlycoRNAs and further discussed their potential immunomodulatory role in the brain, particularly focusing on post-stroke neuroinflammation.

Hypothetical pathways on glycoRNA biochemistry

“…[2] One of the most interesting hypothetical functionality of glycoRNAs is their paper on neuron-microglia interaction after an ischemic stroke: the sialylated neuronal Y-RNAs are detected by the microglial Siglec-11 receptor producing an anti-inflammatory phenotype. [2] As it is well-known, sialic acids show multiple functions in tumor biology, such as immune evasion, proliferation and metastasis, promoting angiogenesis or resisting apoptosis and therapy. [3] GlycoRNAs may also be involved in those processes.…”