Glycans News and Research

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Scripps Research Institute scientists show AIDS vaccine could work against changeable site on HIV

A vaccine or other therapy directed at a single site on a surface protein of HIV could in principle neutralize nearly all strains of the virus-thanks to the diversity of targets the site presents to the human immune system.

15 May 2014

Carbohydrate-binding proteins fill in gaps in immune defenses

Our bodies produce a family of proteins that recognize and kill bacteria whose carbohydrate coatings resemble those of our own cells too closely, scientists have discovered.

13 May 2014

TSRI scientists discover new HIV target

A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) working with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) has discovered a new vulnerable site on the HIV virus. The newly identified site can be attacked by human antibodies in a way that neutralizes the infectivity of a wide variety of HIV strains.

25 Apr 2014

Researchers discover new marker derived from human umbilical cord blood

The development of stem cell therapies to cure a variety of diseases depends on the ability to characterize stem cell populations based on cell surface markers.

18 Apr 2014

Research aims to develop world's first lipid database for healthy persons

A new international research consortium, led by the National University of Singapore (NUS), aims to develop the world's first lipid database for healthy persons of different racial and ethnic groups.

20 Mar 2014

Sugars attached to proteins can be used to detect ovarian cancer, say researchers

The hunt is on to find biomarkers that detect cancer, but it's a challenging process. Early successes often are followed by heartbreaking failures. But now, researchers at UC Davis have verified that glycans (sugars attached to proteins) can be used to detect ovarian cancer. The study was published online in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

11 Mar 2014

Researchers discover that carbohydrates serve as identifiers for cancer cells

Researchers at New York University and the University of Texas at Austin have discovered that carbohydrates serve as identifiers for cancer cells. Their findings, which appear in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show how these molecules may serve as signals for cancer and explain what's going on inside these cells, pointing to new ways in which sugars function as a looking glass into the workings of their underlying structures.

4 Mar 2014

International researchers study glycans that could help clinicians diagnose gastric cancer early

Gastric cancer kills more than 700,000 people each year, mostly in Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe. Though the disease is quite treatable when caught early, symptoms are indistinct and late detection leads to high mortality. The five-year survival rate in the United States is 26.9 percent.

22 Dec 2013

Study brings effective hepatitis C cure closer to reality

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have determined the most detailed picture yet of a crucial part of the hepatitis C virus, which the virus uses to infect liver cells. The new data reveal unexpected structural features of this protein and should greatly speed efforts to make an effective hepatitis C vaccine.

29 Nov 2013

Research: Immature sugar molecules aid growth properties of cancer cells

In co-operation with a research group from Singapore, scientists at University of Copenhagen have shown that immature sugar molecules in the form of truncated O-glycans aid growth properties of cancer cells.

17 Sep 2013

Study: 3 enzymes required for building sugar superstructure involved in muscular dystrophies

For many inherited diseases, such as cystic fibrosis or Huntington disease, the disease-causing genetic mutation damages or removes a protein that has an essential role in the body. This protein defect is the root cause of the disease symptoms.

9 Aug 2013

World’s first “Tribrid” LC-MS launched by Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, introduced the Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Fusion Tribrid liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) system, combining its three mass analyzers –quadrupole, Orbitrap and linear ion trap – in a novel “Tribrid” architecture that offers unprecedented depth of analysis of complex biological samples.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 10 Jun 2013

Changes in normal glycan behavior lead to fatal lysosomal disease, say researchers

From the neurons that enable thought to the keratinocytes that make toenails grow-a complex canopy of sugar molecules, commonly known as glycans, envelop every living cell in the human body.

6 Jun 2013

New MIT study reveals that H3N2 strains could pose a risk to humans

In the summer of 1968, a new strain of influenza appeared in Hong Kong. This strain, known as H3N2, spread around the globe and eventually killed an estimated 1 million people.

13 May 2013

New paper advances scientific understanding of glycoproteins’ structure and function

A Simon Fraser University chemist is the lead author on a new paper that advances scientific understanding of the structure and function of glycoproteins, in particular the number and positioning of sugars on them.

14 Feb 2013

UCSB scientists publish groundbreaking study results of Type 2 diabetes

While legions of medical researchers have been looking to understand the genetic basis of disease and how mutations may affect human health, a group of biomedical researchers at UC Santa Barbara is studying the metabolism of cells and their surrounding tissue, to ferret out ways in which certain diseases begin.

7 Jan 2013

Human milk oligosaccharides may reduce risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission

An international team of researchers has found that certain bioactive components found in human milk are associated with a reduced risk of HIV transmission from an HIV infected mother to her breast-fed infant. Their study will be published in the August 15 online edition of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

16 Aug 2012

Study investigates ability of bifidobacteria to remove glycans from milk glycoproteins

A research team at the University of California, Davis, has found that important and resourceful bacteria in the baby microbiome can ferret out nourishment from a previously unknown source, possibly helping at-risk infants break down components of breast milk.

15 Aug 2012

Powerful new tools can study glycans’ function

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have developed chemical compounds that can make key modifications to common sugar molecules ("glycans"), which are found on the surface of all cells in our body. The new study presents powerful new tools for studying these molecules' function, for example in cell signaling and immunity, and for investigating new treatments for chronic inflammation, autoimmune diseases, cancer metastasis, and related conditions.

11 Jun 2012

Differentiated luminal-like breast cancer cells can generate larger tumors

New findings in breast cancer research by an international team of scientists contradict the prevailing belief that only basal-like cells with stem cell qualities can form invasive tumors. Research led by Ole William Petersen at the University of Copenhagen (CU) and Mina Bissell of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and has shown that luminal-like cells with no detectable stem cell qualities can generate larger tumors than their basal-like counterparts.

19 Apr 2012