Glycobiology of Human Milk in Shaping Infant Gut Function and Immunity
A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Carbohydrates".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 March 2026 | Viewed by 1
Special Issue Editor
Interests: glycobiology; human milk; lactation; gut microbiota; mucosal signaling; gut immunomodulation; brain development; human milk oligosaccharides; innate immunity
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The principal glycans in human milk are its oligosaccharides (HMOS), while its glycoproteins and glycolipids are also important. More than 100 distinct oligosaccharide molecules have been identified in human milk. As the third largest component of milk, they represent ~10% of the maternal caloric input, but are essentially indigestible by the infant, suggesting other primary functions. Specific human milk glycans mimic intestinal glycans that are used by enteric pathogens as receptors and may thereby competitively inhibit enteric infection. Specific HMOS are also known to modulate immune response directly, especially inhibition of specific pro-inflammatory signaling pathways. Indeed, glycans of human milk are considered to constitute an innate immune system whereby the mother confers potent clinically significant protection to her nursing infant. Further, HMOS promote growth in distal gut of specific mutualist symbionts of the gut microbiota. A transcellular signaling pathway mediates transkingdom communication between healthy microbiota and intestinal mucosal epithelial cells through fut2 expression, promoting mucosal homeostasis and resilience to pathogen infection, physical, and immunologic insult. This prebiotic effect indirectly reduces gut inflammation.
In vivo, these phenomena overlap, are confounded, and data are incomplete. This Special Issue would include studies on mechanisms whereby human milk promotes infant health and development and counters environmental insults.
Prof. Dr. David Newburg
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- human milk
- glycobiology
- gut microbiota
- mucosal signaling
- gut homeostasis
- anaerobic fermentation
- short chain fatty acids
- bioinformatics
- metabolomics
- glycomics
- human milk oligosacchrides
- innate immunity
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