Development and applications of chemical and biochemical tools for studying the functional role of cellular glycoconjugates
Our research group is interesting in understanding the functional role of mammalian complex glycans (chain of monosaccharides).
For this purpose, our team employs a interdisciplinary approach, including organic and enzymatic synthesis, biochemistry and cell imaging to probe complex glycans in living systems.
The central dogma of molecular biology has been that biological information moves from DNA to RNA to protein. However, there is a growing appreciation that posttranslational modifications, such as protein glycosylation, dramatically increase protein complexity and function.
Glycans are chains of monosaccharides that are covalently linked to cell surface proteins. They have been recognized as key participants in cell-cell communications. From a pathological point of view, changes in the glycome of cells are associated with developmental disorders and can mark the onset of cancer.
Despite these intriguing observations, the molecular mechanisms by which these complex carbohydrates influence cells are not well understood due to their inherent structural complexity and a lack of suitable biochemical methods to study them. To address these limitations, our research group focusses on two major lines of research:
Selected publications:
Favre, C.; Friscourt, F.* Org. Lett. 2018, 20, 4213-4217.
Chinoy, Z. S.; Bodineau, C.; Favre, C.; Moremen, K. W.; Durán R. V.; Friscourt, F.* Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 4281-4285
Chinoy, Z. S.; Montembault, E.; Moremen, K. W.; Royou, A. and Friscourt, F.* ACS Chem. Biol. 2021, 16, 2307-2314.
Chinoy, Z. S.; Moremen, K. W. and Friscourt, F.* Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2022, 27, e202200271.
Schulz Jurgen, Chinoy Zoeisha S, Khalaf Tarek, Li Yukang, Ma Pengchen, Svatunek Dennis, Houk Kendall N, Friscourt Frédéric