Training in Glycoscience

This 2-day virtual 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. It covers the techniques of glycosyl-residue and glycosyl-linkage composition analyses using gas-liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The 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 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, specific lectures are given by Dr. Geert-Jan Boons on “Chemical Synthesis of Carbohydrates” and Drs. Mohnen, Hahn and Muszyński on “Biosynthesis Polysaccharides”, “Use of antibodies for structural determination of cell wall polysaccharides”, and “Isolation and characterization of bacterial polysaccharides”, respectively. Dr. Breeanna Urbanowicz also lectures on “Introduction to xyloglucan structure and biosynthesis”.  The demonstrations, especially, will deliver detailed techniques and data interpretation for composition and linkage analyses of monosaccharide residues in poly-, oligo-saccharides and glyco-conjugates.

This specialized course is focused on glycomics and glycoproteomics experiments by mass spectrometry and use of bioinformatics tools. The course covers N– and O-glycan sequencing by NSI-MS/MS and MALDI-MS techniques and also includes a special module on glycoproteomics. Lectures by Drs. Shajahan, Archer-Hartmann, Azadi, Wells/Orlando include 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.  Demonstrations videos 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).  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.

In this 2-day virtual course, participants will learn fundamental techniques for glycosaminoglycan (GAG) analysis via a combination of virtual demos, hands-on data interpretation, and lectures. 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. They will also explore cutting-edge characterization techniques through the use of 1D and 2D NMR techniques, and GAG-protein interactions with SPR .