Guest Editors
Dr. Ryan Weiss
Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty
<p>Dr. Ryan Weiss received his B.S. in chemistry in 2008 at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, CA. He then received his Ph.D. in chemistry in 2015 at the University of California, San Diego, under the supervision of Prof. Yitzhak Tor. He then moved to the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, where he worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Prof. Jeffrey Esko’s group. Dr. Weiss began his independent career as an assistant professor at the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center at the University of Georgia in January 2021. His current research interests include drug discovery and using genomic tools to understand the regulation of glycosylation in human disorders.</p>
Dr. Amrita Basu
Complex Carbohydrate Research Center
<p>Dr. Amrita Basu is currently working as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Complex Carbohydrates Research Center at the University of Georgia. Her research studies the structure, function, and regulation of glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis in mammalian cells. She received her M.Sc. in Applied Microbiology from VIT University (India) and earned her Ph.D. in Ecotoxicology at RECETOX, Masaryk University (Czech Republic). She has worked in the field of toxicology, focusing on 2D and 3D stem cell-based models and cancer cell models for environmental health. Additionally, she has also been involved in projects encompassing molecular biology, toxicology, and cell and developmental biology, including environmental endocrine disruptors, male fertility, and immunomodulatory potencies of toxic cyanobacteria. She has been part of multiple research papers in peer-reviewed journals and three book chapters. Her research expertise lies in the field of Toxicology, Cell Biology, Immunology, and Glycobiology. </p>
Collection Overview
Glycobiology is the study of the structure, function, biosynthesis, and biology of saccharides/sugars or glycans. The human glycome consists of a large inventory of complex carbohydrates that can be covalently linked to core proteins, lipids, and even nucleic acids on the cell surface, extracellular matrix, and intracellular space. Matrix and cell-associated glycoproteins, such as proteoglycans, are essential for the maintenance of tissue structure, porosity, and structural integrity. Additionally, many glycans can be further modified (e.g., sulfation) allowing them to interact with protein binding partners in the extracellular space. Therefore, glycans influence many important cellular processes including cell-to-cell interactions, cell signaling, embryonic development, ligand-receptor binding, blood coagulation, and the inflammatory response. Changes in glycosylation may result in impaired protein expression followed by changes in the protein-ligand function and perturbed cell signaling. Defects in glycosylation may also result in various other autoimmune disorders and can impact tumorigenesis and neurodegenerative disorders. The analysis of glycans usually involves the use of complementary methods for assessing specific glycosylation attributes, including protein glycosylation sites, glycan structures, and glycan-protein interactions. Overall, glycobiology is one of the most rapidly progressing fields of interest for biomolecular and biomedical research as it provides answers to the vital questions of the complex machinery of the interaction with proteins and the intricate process of life.