Carbohydrates, particularly those found on cell surfaces, play critical biological roles. For example,glycoconjugates are involved in the development and differentiation of cells, cell adhesion and cell signaling, and cell-matrix interactions. It is also well documented that changes either in the structures of these glycans, or in the expression of carbohydrate-binding proteins, are associated with an ever-increasing number of diseases, include human genetic diseases such as muscular dystrophy or congenital disorders of glycosylation, viral and bacterial infections, parasite invasion and survival as well as metastasis and tumor progression. Recently published studies have demonstrated that glycoconjugates are also regulators of the immune system. The main goal of the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Carbohydrates is to bring together a diverse group of scientists who work in the broad area of """"""""glycoscience"""""""", a term that, loosely speaking, refers to the fields of carbohydrate chemistry, carbohydrate biochemistry, and glycobiology, to discuss recent progress and future challenges in the field. This meeting, like those held in previous years, will involve individuals with a range of experience, ranging from well-established senior investigators to newcomers to the field, including junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students. The meeting will have talks organized into six focus areas in nine sessions. Three full day symposia (a total of six sessions) will anchor the meeting. The focus of these sessions will be 1.) synthetic carbohydrate chemistry, 2.) glycopharmaceuticals and 3.) structure/function studies of carbohydrate processing-enzymes. In addition three half-day symposia (three sessions) will be held on the following topics: 1.) carbohydrate structure, 2.) conformational analysis/NMR spectroscopy and 3.) glycoengineering. ? ? ?
