# The incorporation of human milk oligosaccharides in brain glycoconjugates

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS · 2020 · $329,524

## Abstract

RESEARCH SUMMARY
The role that diet plays in brain development will be probed by determining the components of the brain that
are directly impacted by nutrition. Human milk is highly glycosylated containing short oligosaccharide chains
that are more abundant than proteins. In early nutrition, there is a big burden on diet to accommodate the
rapidly developing brain. The brain is rich in sialic acids, which are involved in neuronal outgrowth thereby
creating synaptic connectivity through cell-cell interactions that in turn create memory. Human milk
oligosaccharides are rich in sialic acids. It has long been proposed that sialic acids in human milk are an
important source of sialic acids in the brain. However, the compounds in the brain that incorporate the
exogenous sialic acids are not known, although they are generally believed to include proteins and lipids. This
research will determine with high specificity the glycoconjugates in the brain that incorporate exogenous
monosaccharides, particularly those from human milk oligosaccharides during the normal course of breast-
feeding. A method combining advanced separation, mass spectrometry and chemical biology will be developed
to determine the glycan structures, the glycoprotein, and the glycolipid involved in the incorporation of glycans
from breast milk. Structural heterogeneity will be determined with lipid-specific characterization. Glycans in
glycoproteins will be determined with structural heterogeneity at the site-specific level for both N- and O-
glycosylation sites. We will develop deep glycomics tools to probe the glycoconjugates as glycoproteins and
glycolipids that incorporate components from human milk. Determining the specific protein and lipid
glycoconjugates that incorporate milk oligosaccharides would provide the most direct link between nutrition
and brain development.
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## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9850129
- **Project number:** 5R01GM049077-25
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS
- **Principal Investigator:** CARLITO B LEBRILLA
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $329,524
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1993-05-01 → 2021-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9850129

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9850129, The incorporation of human milk oligosaccharides in brain glycoconjugates (5R01GM049077-25). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9850129. Licensed CC0.

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