Acta Chimica Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 84 ›› Issue (3): 409-424.DOI: 10.6023/A25120390 Previous Articles     Next Articles

Review

靶向特定蛋白质的O-GlcNAc修饰精准调控工具:疾病机制研究与治疗机遇

于恺然a, 张娜娜b, 刘宇博b,*()   

  1. a 大连理工大学 化工海洋与生命学院 盘锦 122406
    b 东北大学 生命科学与健康学院 沈阳 110169
  • 投稿日期:2025-12-01 发布日期:2026-02-10
  • 作者简介:

    于恺然, 大连理工大学化学生物学专业在读博士生, 研究方向为O-GlcNAc糖基化修饰与肿瘤生物学行为.

    刘宇博, 博士, 教授, 博士生导师. 现就职于东北大学生命科学与健康学院. 研究工作以化学生物学与糖生物学交叉融合为手段, 通过开发高效、低毒糖探针与化学糖组学新策略, 实现对肿瘤演进过程的多维度、高通量观测; 开发人源化糖链生物合成方法, 构建以糖基转移酶、糖核苷酸合成与转运模块为核心的可编程平台. 在Nature Communications、Science Advances、Oncogene、EMBO Reports等杂志发表论文50余篇. 主持国家自然科学基金, 国家重大科技专项子课题等十余项, 入选国家级青年人才, “兴辽英才”青年拔尖人才.

  • 基金资助:
    项目受国家自然科学基金(32471331)

Tools for Precise Control of Protein-Specific O-GlcNAcylation: Insights into Disease Mechanisms and Therapeutic Opportunities

Yu Kairana, Zhang Nanab, Liu Yubob,*()   

  1. a School of Chemical Engineering, Ocean and Life Sciences, Dalian University of Technology, Panjin 122406, China
    b School of Life Sciences and Health, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110169, China
  • Received:2025-12-01 Published:2026-02-10
  • Contact: *E-mail: liuyubo@mail.neu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(32471331)

Protein O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) glycosylation is a highly dynamic and reversible monosaccharide post-translational modification in eukaryotic cells, playing critical roles in cellular regulation. To date, more than 5,000 O-GlcNAc-modified proteins have been identified, distributed in the cytoplasm, nucleus, mitochondria, and membraneless subcellular compartments. O-GlcNAcylation is catalyzed by O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT), which installs a single N-acetylglucosamine moiety onto serine and threonine residues, whereas removal of the modification is mediated by O-GlcNAcase (OGA). Uridine diphosphate N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc), the end product of the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway (HBP), serves as the sugar donor for this modification. This tightly coupled enzymatic cycle allows O-GlcNAcylation to act as a nutrient- and signal-responsive regulatory modification, linking metabolic state to protein function. O-GlcNAcylation regulates a broad range of fundamental cellular processes, including gene transcription, chromatin remodeling, epigenetic regulation, protein-protein interactions, and diverse intracellular signaling pathways. Dysregulation of global or protein-specific O-GlcNAcylation has been linked to the development and progression of multiple human diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative disorders. With continuous advances in analytical methodologies, particularly high-resolution mass spectrometry and enrichment strategies, an increasing number of O-GlcNAc modification sites have been identified, allowing the functional roles of target proteins and their specific modification sites to be examined in detail. However, the highly dynamic nature of O-GlcNAcylation implies that chemical or genetic methods targeting OGT or OGA often lead to widespread changes in O-GlcNAc levels across thousands of proteins. Such global alterations complicate the functional interpretation of site-specific modifications and make it challenging to determine the precise role of O-GlcNAc at individual protein sites. Increasing evidence suggests that targeted modulation of specific O-GlcNAc sites on individual proteins provides improved mechanistic insight and greater translational relevance than global modulation approaches. Therefore, developing tools and strategies that allow site-specific modulation of O-GlcNAcylation on individual proteins, without altering overall O-GlcNAc levels, is critical. This review summarizes recent advances in targeted protein O-GlcNAcylation, highlights emerging chemical biology tools and strategies, and discusses their potential to reveal site-specific O-GlcNAc functions and their relevance to human disease.

Key words: O-GlcNAcylation, chemical biology, molecular tools, targeted regulation, site-specific modification