This one-year research initiation project through the Catalyzing New International Collaborations (CNIC) program links a new U.S.-Swedish team, led by Wompil Im at the University of Kansas and Göran Widmalm at Stockholm University, for the purpose of developing cooperative research on the structure and dynamics of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) using computational and experimental techniques. An LPS molecule is a complex amphiphatic compound consisting of lipid A, a core oligosaccharide, and an O-antigen polysaccharide with repeating units. These large and complex LPS molecules are vital to both the structural and functional integrity of gram-negative bacteria. The complexity of LPS makes them particularly challenging to study. With this support, the U.S.-Swedish team will combine expertise in both computational and NMR techniques to improve our understanding of the structure and dynamics of individual glycosidic sugar linkages and the impacts of the linkages on the overall LPS structures. Also of interest are the differences and similarities of LPS structure and dynamics in solution and bilayer environments. Peliminary answers to these important fundamental questions may have broader impact by contributing to future research yielding new knowledge of the biological impact of LPS molecules in mammals, such as the cause of fever, septic shock, or other deleterious physiological effects.
Responding to recent recommendations in the 2012 book "Transforming Glycoscience: A Roadmap for the Future," published by The National Academies Press, the U.S. and Swedish partners also plan to integrate an education component with the research activities of the collaboration in the area of glycans, a general term for carbohydrates, sugars, and saccharides. In addition to providing graduate student training for one participant from the University of Kansas, the PI will involve two undergraduate students for early career experience with computational glycan biophysics. Therefore while abroad, each U.S. student should gain valuable exposure to an array of forefront computational and NMR techniques used by the U.S.-Swedish team.
