This is a fascinating study from Ehwang Song, et. al., that shows something that I've never considered that would happen: a simple missense mutation (only one amino acid changes) that results in a new glycosylation site. The protein in question is a clinically used biomarker for prostate cancer called PSA. While studying this marker previously this team ran into some glycopeptides that shouldn't exist. So they pulled out the stops and studied it in depth.
What they ended up with is a brand new glycosylation site that can occur in the protein when one missense mutation occurs linked to kallikrein mutations. What do I get from this paper? A ton of terms that are all new to me, and a fantastic appreciation of how little we seem to know about even things that we've studied the crap out of.
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