Long term objective of this project is to understand changes in glycoconjugates and their interactions with lectin receptors in rheumatoid, and other diseases. Rheumatoid diseases are known to be associated with changes in oligosaccharide structures, but very little is know about effects of these changes on the interaction between glycoconjugates and their lectin receptors. One of the main problems is the lack of adequate methods for the analysis of lectin activity in complex biological samples, and we shall focus significant efforts to development and improvement of these methods. A novel set of compounds, named glycoprobes, will be used to identify and purify lectins that bind to specific, carbohydrate structures. Individual lectins will be characterized by MALDI-MS, and their identity determined by peptide mapping. We hope that the information about changes in the activity of lectins in rheumatoid diseases will, in the long run, help identify future targets for more specific therapy of rheumatoid diseases.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Fogarty International Center (FIC)
Type
Small Research Grants (R03)
Project #
5R03TW001477-03
Application #
6639970
Study Section
International and Cooperative Projects 1 Study Section (ICP)
Program Officer
Michels, Kathleen M
Project Start
2001-04-01
Project End
2005-03-31
Budget Start
2003-04-01
Budget End
2005-03-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$37,125
Indirect Cost
Name
Johns Hopkins University
Department
Biology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
001910777
City
Baltimore
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
21218
Lauc, Gordan; Dumic, Jerka; Flogel, Mirna et al. (2003) A new synthetic route for the preparation of glycoprobes. Anal Biochem 320:306-9
Lauc, Gordan; Supraha, Sandra; Lee, Yuan C et al. (2003) Digoxin derivatives as tools for glycobiology. Methods Enzymol 362:29-37