What are glycans?
Glycans are chains of sugar units linked together. Diverse mixtures of glycan structures coat the surface of all cells, and these carbohydrates have a wide range of important biological roles. Glycans can alter the function of the proteins or lipids to which they are attached, and they can also interact with glycan-binding proteins in a highly selective manner to elicit various biological events.
Why study glycoscience?
Glycoscience is an extremely multidisciplinary field that aims to understand the structures and functions of glycans. Glycans are fundamental to nearly every aspect of biology, and have been found to play a major role in normal physiology and every major disease. Due to the importance of these biomolecules, glycoscience is a rapidly progressing field that is the next frontier in biomedical sciences with the potential to lead to novel solutions to improve human health.
Research
The structures of glycans found on cells are highly diverse and complex in nature. Unlike other biomolecules, such as DNA and proteins, their biosynthesis is not template-driven. To understand how glycans function, we need novel tools and methodologies to study how these carbohydrates interact with glycan-binding proteins and elicit a biological response. In the Capicciotti Lab, we use a multidisciplinary approach to study glycan function in cells. We combine chemo-enzymatic glycan synthesis and chemical biology tools to engineer cell-surfaces with defined glycan structures and chemical probes to understand the fundamental mechanisms of how glycans interact with proteins to stimulate biological function. Our research is highly interdisciplinary, using synthetic organic chemistry, enzymatic synthesis, chemical biology, biochemistry and cell biology approaches. Using these approaches, we will provide the essential knowledge that is needed to understand the specific biology of glycans and their role in health and disease.