Training in Glycoscience
2024- 2025 Hands-on Training Courses are in person this year!
The National Glycoscience Resource at the CCRC training includes undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral research associates, and visiting scientists from the United States and around the world. CCRC provides Hands-on Training in principles, methods, and analytical techniques used to study complex carbohydrates.
Short-term trainees may enroll in one or more of the four glycobiology training courses the CCRC offers every summer for scientists in academic, governmental, or industrial laboratories.
These varied hands-on trainings in glycobiology are supported in part by fees from participants and by funds from the US National Institutes of Health.
COURSE 1 : TECHNIQUES FOR CHARACTERIZATION OF CARBOHYDRATE STRUCTURE OF PLANT AND MICROBIAL POLYSACCHARIDES - POLYSACCHARIDE COURSE (AUGUST 4-8, 2025)
This 5-day hands-on course will provide series of lectures and demonstrations, which cover the theory and techniques of isolation, purification and structure characterization of poly-, oligo-saccharides and glyco-conjugates. Participants will learn the theory techniques of glycosyl-residue and glycosyl-linkage composition analyses using gas-liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). These methods for derivatization of sugar samples to make alditol acetates and trimethylsilyl derivatives and the production of partially methylated alditol acetates, which the trainees analyze by GC/MS. Lectures and demonstrations will cover such techniques for structural analysis of polysaccharides by mass spectrometry and NMR, and methods for the separation and purification of polysaccharides by chromatographic techniques and monosaccharides and oligosaccharides using HPAEC. In addition, lectures on a variety of topics from CCRC facility will be given such as: Dr. Geert-Jan Boons “Chemical Synthesis of Carbohydrates”, Dr. Mohnen “Biosynthesis Polysaccharides”, Dr. Hahn “Use of antibodies for structural determination of cell wall polysaccharides”, and Dr. Muszyński, “Isolation and characterization of bacterial polysaccharides”. Dr. Breeanna Urbanowicz will also lecture on “Introduction to xyloglucan structure and biosynthesis”. Hands-on demonstrations will also deliver detailed techniques and data interpretation for composition and linkage analyses of monosaccharide residues in poly-, oligo-saccharides and glyco-conjugates.
$500 Academic, $1,100 Industry
COURSE 2 : SEPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF GLYCOPROTEIN AND GLYCOLIPID OLIGOSACCHARIDES - GLYCOPROTEIN COURSE (AUGUST 11-15, 2025)
This 5-day hands-on course is focused on hands-on experiments for glycomics and glycoproteomics by mass spectrometry and the use of bioinformatics tools. Participants will release N– and O-glycans, perform permethylation, profiling, and sequencing by NSI-MS/MS and MALDI-MS techniques and also includes a special module on glycoproteomics. Other hands-on experiments include glycolipid analysis and lectin blotting experiments. Lectures by Drs. Archer-Hartmann, Azadi, Wells/Orlando and include topics on monosaccharide and oligosaccharide analysis by HPAEC mapping the glycosylation sites in glycoproteins, glycopeptide analysis, determining the composition, quantitation of glycans, sequencing and branching points of N– and O-linked oligosaccharides, and MS procedures used in these analyses. Special topic lectures will cover “Biosynthesis of Glycoproteins” by Dr. Moremen, “Bacterial Glycoproteins” by Dr. Szymanski, Glycosphingolipid Analysis by Dr. Tiemeyer.
$500 Academic, $1,100 Industry
COURSE 3 : ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES FOR STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF GLYCOSAMINOGLYCANS (GAGS). (AUGUST 18-20, 2025)
In this 3-day course, participants will learn fundamental techniques for glycosaminoglycan (GAG) analysis including hands-on experiments in GAG compositional analysis, HPLC, acid hydrolysis and size exclusion chromatography. An introduction into general techniques for GAG isolation and characterization will be covered. Topics to be included are: Biological considerations of glycosaminoglycans, GAGs as biotherapeutics, and isolation strategies of GAGs from cells and tissue. Participants will explore various methods of the analysis of GAGs with combinations of enzymatic or chemical treatments, chromatography, and mass spectrometry (LCMS and ESI-MS/MS). Special emphasis will be on experiments for disaccharide analysis of GAGs by SAX-HPLC. They will also explore cutting-edge characterization techniques through the use of 1D and 2D NMR techniques, and GAG-protein interactions with SPR. Special topic lectures will cover mass spectrometry of GAGs by Dr. Leach, and cell-based assay for GAG analysis by Dr. Wiess and 1D and D-NMR characterization of GAGs.
$600 Academic, $1,400 Industry
COURSE 4 : GLYCOMICS, GLYCOPROTEOMICS AND BIOINFORMATICS TOOLS FOR DATA INTERPRETATION OF MASS SPECTROMETRY OF GLYCOPROTEINS (OCTOBER 13-15, 2025)
In this 3-day hands-on course will focus on mass spectrometry and bioinformatics for glycomics and glycoproteomics analysis of glycoproteins. Hands on demonstrations will include MALDI-MS, LC-NSI-MS, and MS/MS based sequencing of glycans. The course also features lectures on: (1) different domain databases (Glycomics and Glycoproteomics) and how they can be used to supplement analytical workflows; and (2) a general overview of existing mass spectrometry software tools for glycomics and, glycoproteomics. A major focus will also be on available glycomics software tools (GlycoWorkbench). We also cover glycoproteomics software tools (Byonic and Protein Discoverer) and glycomics software (SimGlycan). The final day will include additional modules on using mass spectrometry for targeted glycoproteomics, characterization by NMR spectroscopy, and applications of molecular modeling for the analysis of glycans and glycoconjugates.
$500 Academic, $1,100 Industry