The National Center for Functional Glycomics is an organization that is focused on the development of technology development in glycosciences. They are specifically focused on glycan analysis and molecular mechanisms of glycan recognition by proteins important in human biology and disease. The center was established at
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...
in 2013 with $5.5 million funding by
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
under the leadership of
Richard D. Cummings. The center moved to
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
in September 2015 and is currently located at
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, Massachusetts is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. It was formed out of the 1996 merger of Beth Israel Hospital (founded in 1916) and New England Deaconess Hospital (founded ...
in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. The center is affiliated with the
Consortium for Functional Glycomics
The Consortium for Functional Glycomics (CFG) is a large research initiative funded in 2001 by a glue grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) to “define paradigms by which protein-carbohydrate interactions mediate ...
.
The National Center for Functional Glycomics is one of four glycomics-related biomedical technology research resource centers in the United States. These centers provide unique technology and methods in the field of glycomics research. The center is responsible for services and training for outside investigators, as well as providing access and disseminating technologies, methods and software.
Research projects
The center's projects are:
* Analysis of potential glycan-binding proteins on various glycan arrays (CFG glycan array, Microbial glycan array, NCFG-derived arrays)
* Structural analysis of glycans
* Production of naturally occurring glycans by isolation
Shotgun glycomics
The center researches shotgun glycomics techniques in which glycans harvested and purified from various materials such as breast milk and pig lungs. Such techniques developed by the center and other glycomics groups can further be applied to tissues to generate an overall glycome of the tissue for research into various diseases such as cancer, inflammation and autoimmune diseases.
Oxidative Release of Natural Glycans
The oxidative release of natural glycans technique was developed at the center. This process involves household bleach treatment of tissues to release glycans for glycomics. The eventual aim of this approach is to make glycomics accessible by a larger community of scientists by the development of tools which are easily available.
GlycoPattern
The National Center for Functional Glycomics has developed GlycoPattern, a web-based bioinformatics resource to assist in analysis of glycan array data. The GlycoPattern website offers tools and algorithms to discover structural motifs, heatmap visualizations for multiple experiment comparisons, clustering of Glycan Binding Proteins.
GlycoPattern
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Services
The National Center for Functional Glycomics offers the following services:
* Printing custom microarrays on glass slides
* Analysis of qualitative and quantitative changes in glycans associated with diseases and disorders by Glycan Reductive Isotope Labeling and mass spectrometry.
External links
Official website
References
{{reflist
Organizations based in Boston
Glycomics
Glycobiology
Glycolipids
Glycopeptides
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrate chemistry