Glycomics

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Glycomics and Glycoproteomics Facility

The cell surface of all living organisms is covered with complex carbohydrates (Glycans) of different types. Glycomics is the comprehensive study of the Glycome. This includes the entire repertoire of sugars of an organism such as glycans attached to proteins and lipids, glycosaminoglycans and polysaccharides, including genetic, physiologic, pathologic, and other aspects.

The rapid advancement of technologies such as high-throughput mass spectrometry, glycan microarrays and carbohydrate chemistry are helping to unravel the complexity resulting from these diverse molecules and eventually the ‘glycan code’.

The following services are being offered through our Glycomics and Glycoproteomics facility:

1. Glycomics of proteins, cells, tissue and whole organism: Structural characterization of N- and O-glycans attached to proteins. This will be performed using ultra sensitive MALDI-TOF/TOF MS in conjunction with chemical and enzymatic sample preparation techniques. The linkage between different sugar units will be ascertained using GC-MS, exoglycosidases and glycosyltransferases depending upon the requirement.N-glycan profiling of 2-AB derivatized glycans using UHPLC with fluorescent detector is also established.

2. Glycoproteomics: Identification and quantitation of nature the glycans and their attachment site in a glycoprotein using a combination of conventional glycan analysis (MALDI-TOF/TOF) and glycopeptide analysis by Nano-LC-ESI-MS/MS

3. Monosaccharide Composition Analysis: This analysis will provide information about relative intensities of various saccharides (sugars) of glycans, polysaccharides, etc. This study will be performed using acetylation and/or trimethylsilyl derivatization followed by GC-MS analysis

4. Polysaccharide analysis: A large variety of carbohydrates other than those described above could come under polysaccharides including lipopolysaccharides (LPS), polysaccharides from plants used for bio-fuel industry etc. We have well established so methods for the structural characterization of polysaccharides using HPLC and mass spectrometry based techniques.