UniCarb-DB: a database resource for glycomic discovery

Glycosylation is one of the most important post-translational modifications of proteins, known to be involved in pathogen recognition, innate immune response and protection of epithelial membranes. However, when compared to the tools and databases available for the processing of high-throughput proteomic data, the glycomic domain is severely lacking. While tools to assist the analysis of mass spectrometry (MS) and HPLC are continuously improving, there are few resources available to support liquid chromatography (LC)-MS/MS techniques for glycan structure profiling. Here, we present a platform for presenting oligosaccharide structures and fragment data characterized by LC-MS/MS strategies. The database is annotated with high-quality datasets and is designed to extend and reinforce those standards and ontologies developed by existing glycomics databases. AVAILABILITY: http://www.unicarb-db.org