Biomedical Applications of Glycoengineering - 585.744

Glycoengineering refers to the improvement of glycosylated molecules through manipulating their glycans (“glycans” is a broad term referring to sugars attached to proteins or lipids that includes all types of carbohydrates including monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides). This course will cover the basic glycobiology of sugars and then focus on the manipulation of glycans for therapeutic purposes. Specific biomedical applications covered include the role of glycoengineering in the production and efficacy of therapeutic proteins (e.g., monoclonal antibodies); the impact of dietary sugars on human health; and the prospects for carbohydrate-based therapies for intractable human diseases such as metastatic cancer and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Suggested prerequisites include university level cellular biology, molecular biology, or biochemistry courses.