• Glycosylation modifications are crucial in cancer, infectious diseases, aging, and associated disorders, offering potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
• Research studies in this issue reveal that glycosylation profiling can guide immunotherapy decisions in lung cancer and that O-GlcNAcylation and O-GalNAc glycosylation stabilize glycosyltransferases in bladder cancer.
• O-glycosylation of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein stabilizes its trimeric structure, providing insights into viral infection mechanisms, while macrophage mannose receptor is critical for BCG vaccine efficacy against tuberculosis.
• Advanced glycan analysis technologies, including lectin microarrays and mass spectrometry, are advancing clinical diagnostics and biomarker discovery for various diseases.