Seal milk oligosaccharides rival human milk complexity and exhibit functional dynamics during lactation

Abstract

Breast milk oligosaccharides are crucial for neonatal development and health. Yet most milk research focuses on humans, or domesticated mammals that are historically poor in milk oligosaccharide complexity. Here, we perform an exhaustive mass spectrometry-driven structural characterization of milk oligosaccharides in a wild mammal, Atlantic grey seals (Halichoerus grypus), throughout their lactation period. Characterizing and quantifying 332 milk oligosaccharides, including 166 novel structures, we reveal seals to rival human milk in complexity, with seal free oligosaccharides reaching unprecedented 28 monosaccharides in size. Glycomics and metabolomics time course analysis establishes a concerted regulatory process reshaping the seal milk glycome throughout lactation,similar as in human milk. Functional analysis of herein newly characterized structures reveals anti-biofilm effects and immunomodulatory functions of seal milk oligosaccharides. We envision these findings to overturn long-held assumptions about milk complexity of non-human mammals and enable insights into the functional relevance of complex carbohydrates in breast milk.