Activity Detail
Seminar
Sugars, Carbohydrates, Saccharides, or simply Glycans
Luca Unione
Every single cell, from bacteria to complex organisms such as human beings, is covered by a dense coat made of sugars, carbohydrates, saccharides, or simply glycans.[1] Glycans, in the form of cell’s membrane glycoconjugates (glycoproteins and glycolipids), influence a myriad of biological events, including pathogen and viral infections.[2] Pathogens often express glycans that can be detected by glycan binding proteins of the host to establish infections.[3] Several viruses use host surface glycans as attachment points to trigger internalization and, thus, initiate infection.[4] In this scenario, Glycoscience holds a tremendous potential for combating infections. Elucidating the molecular basis of infection is essential, but far from trivial. Whitin CIC bioGUNE, the chemical glycobiology lab applies a multidisciplinary approach which includes chemical and enzymatic synthesis, mammalian protein expression, and structural biology, to contribute to the further understanding of the role of glycans in infection.[5-7] From the most common human Influenza A virus to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the results of these works demonstrate how pathogen’s and host’s glycosylation evolves at the front-line of the battle.
Acknowledgments: Dr. Luca Unione acknowledges the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP; grant LT000747/
2018-C, the Juan de la Cierva-incorporación 2022 Program and the Ikerbasque research fellows 2022 Program.
[1] Carolyn R Shurer, Joe Chin-Hun Kuo, LaDeidra Monét Roberts, Jay G Gandhi, Marshall J Colville, Thais A Enoki, Hao Pan, Jin Su, Jade M Noble, Michael J Hollander, John P O'Donnell, Rose Yin, Kayvon Pedram, Leonhard Möckl, Lena F Kourkoutis, W E Moerner, Carolyn R Bertozzi, Gerald W Feigenson, Heidi L Reesink, Matthew J Paszek Cell 2019, 177(7), 1757-1770.
[2] Lakshminarayanan, A., Richard, M. & Davis, B.G Nat Rev Chem. 2018, 2, 148-159.
[3] A. Varki, P. Gagneux, in Essentials of Glycobiology, Cold Spring Harbor (NY). 2015, pp. 77-88
[4] Suenaga T, Arase H Glycoscience: Biology and Medicine. 2014, 22, 785-794.
[5] Frederik Broszeit, Rosanne J van Beek, Luca Unione, Theo M Bestebroer, Digantkumar Chapla, Jeong-Yeh Yang, Kelley W Moremen, Sander Herfst, Ron A M Fouchier, Robert P de Vries, Geert-Jan Boons. Nat Commun. 2021, 12(1), 5449.
[6] Zeshi Li, Luca Unione, Lin Liu, Yifei Lang, Robert P de Vries, Raoul J de Groot, Geert-Jan Boons. J Am Chem Soc. 2022, 144(1), 424-435.
[7] Luca Unione, María J Moure, Maria Pia Lenza, Iker Oyenarte, June Ereño-Orbea, Ana Ardá, Jesús Jiménez-Barbero. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2022, 61(18).