Harnessing N-glycans as Next Generation Prebiotics
type: CreativeWork
description: N-linked glycans are structurally diverse carbohydrate moieties that are covalently boundto dietary glycoproteins. Upon ingestion, N-glycans from dietary glycoproteins escape absorption in the small intestine and travel to the colon for fermentation. Ample evidence has indicated that certain gut-associated microbes can degrade N-glycans in vitro and in vivo. However, how N-glycans and subtle differences between N-glycan structures impact the gut microbiome has not been studied. This dissertation addresses these questions, and advances methods to study N-glycans as next-generation prebiotics. To begin to address this, a novel yeast-synthesized whey isolate was compared to traditional bovine whey isolate in their protein and N-glycome composition. The bovine whey contained predominantly complex type N-glycans while the yeast-synthesized whey contained exclusively oligomannose N-glycans. Next, an in vitro model using three taxonomically and functionally distinct fecal communities’ representative of gut microbiota were used to screen how differences in these whey protein isolates influenced the gut microbiota. Significant differences in microbial composition, such as alpha diversity, were seen across all three microbial communities between the protein isolates. The compositional differences across all three microbial communities between the protein isolates suggested that each of the proteins' respective N-glycomes drove these differences. Next, the four dietary protein isolates, bovine whey, egg, pea, and soy were investigated. The N-glycomes' of the four protein isolates were characterized, and in vitro fermentation was performed to assess how these N-glycoproteins influenced microbial ecology, short-chain fatty acid production, and N-glycan degradation strategies across the three fecal communities. Composition and short-chain fatty acid production significantly differed in ii response to the glycoprotein sources in a microbiota-dependent manner. Glycoside hydrolase p…
abstract: N-linked glycans are structurally diverse carbohydrate moieties that are covalently boundto dietary glycoproteins. Upon ingestion, N-glycans from dietary glycoproteins escape absorption in the small intestine and travel to the colon for fermentation. Ample evidence has indicated that certain gut-associated microbes can degrade N-glycans in vitro and in vivo. However, how N-glycans and subtle differences between N-glycan structures impact the gut microbiome has not been studied. This dissertation addresses these questions, and advances methods to study N-glycans as next-generation prebiotics. To begin to address this, a novel yeast-synthesized whey isolate was compared to traditional bovine whey isolate in their protein and N-glycome composition. The bovine whey contained predominantly complex type N-glycans while the yeast-synthesized whey contained exclusively oligomannose N-glycans. Next, an in vitro model using three taxonomically and functionally distinct fecal communities’ representative of gut microbiota were used to screen how differences in these whey protein isolates influenced the gut microbiota. Significant differences in microbial composition, such as alpha diversity, were seen across all three microbial communities between the protein isolates. The compositional differences across all three microbial communities between the protein isolates suggested that each of the proteins' respective N-glycomes drove these differences. Next, the four dietary protein isolates, bovine whey, egg, pea, and soy were investigated. The N-glycomes' of the four protein isolates were characterized, and in vitro fermentation was performed to assess how these N-glycoproteins influenced microbial ecology, short-chain fatty acid production, and N-glycan degradation strategies across the three fecal communities. Composition and short-chain fatty acid production significantly differed in ii response to the glycoprotein sources in a microbiota-dependent manner. Glycoside hydrolase p…
author: Bolino, Matthew John
language: en_US
language: English
date published: 2026
date modified: 2026-07-27T21:46:41Z
provider: University of Nevada - Reno
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Nevada - Reno