Glyco

Glyco is a prefix used in biochemistry and cell biology to indicate relation to sugars or glycosyl groups. Derived from the Greek glykys, meaning sweet, glyco appears in terms such as glycoprotein, glycolipid, glycan, glycoside, glycosylation, and glycoconjugate. The prefix denotes substances that contain sugar residues or are modified by the addition of sugars, and it is used across various subfields to describe carbohydrate-related structures and processes.

Glycosylation, a common post-translational modification, uses enzymes to attach carbohydrate chains to proteins or lipids. N-linked glycosylation attaches glycans to asparagine residues, typically in the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus, while O-linked glycosylation attaches to serine or threonine residues, mainly in the Golgi. Glycans influence protein folding, stability, signaling, and interactions, and glycoproteins, glycolipids, and glycoconjugates are prominent components of cell surfaces and extracellular matrices. The study of these carbohydrate structures is central to understanding cell communication and immunity.

The term glyco also extends to the broader concept of the glycome—the entire set of glycans in a cell, tissue, or organism—and to fields such as glycomics and glycoproteomics, which map structures and functions of carbohydrates. While related, glyco should not be confused with gluco, which more specifically refers to glucose. Overall, glyco describes the sugar-related aspects of molecular biology and biochemistry.