News

2/21/12
Are you a young and talented Glycoscientist???
The Alberta Glycomics Centre welcomes applications for the Young Investigator Award in Glycosciences.
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2/8/12
New Vertebrate Animal Section (VAS) Factsheet to Assist Applicants
new factsheet developed by Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) to assist applicants in completing the VAS of grant applications, contract proposals and cooperative agreements for submission to the NIH.
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12/31/69
Sanford-Burnham Rare Disease Day Symposium 2012
Third Annual Rare Disease Day Symposium: Identifying and Treating Rare Disorders Sanford-Burnham’s successful series of Rare Disease Day symposia is based on the concept that treatment of rare diseases requires participation and exchange among all stakeholders—scientists, physicians, affected patients and their families, support groups, granting agencies, industry, and philanthropists. This year’s event, organized by Dr. Hudson Freeze, will focus on Glycosylation-Based Disorders: Discovery, Patients, and Progress Toward Treatments. The keynote speaker is Dr. Eric Green, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) at the NIH.
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1/16/12
Announcement: 26th International Carbohydrate Symposium
Announcement of the 26th International Carbohydrate Symposium (ICS2012) in Madrid, Spain, from July 22nd to 27th, 2012.
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1/16/12
NATION’S LARGEST FEDERATION OF BIOLOGICAL AND BIOMEDICAL ORGANIZATIONS WELCOMES TWO NEW MEMBERS
The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) is pleased to announce the addition of two new member societies, the Society for Glycobiology and the Society for Pediatric Research, which will bring the Federation membership to 26 societies in 2012. “These are very dynamic groups representing extremely important areas of research, and we are proud to have them as members,” said FASEB President Joseph C. LaManna, PhD. “We welcome the addition of their energy and perspectives to our advocacy efforts and look forward to working closely for and with them in the years ahead.”
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12/19/11
Networks link antigenic and receptor-binding sites of influenza hemagglutinin: Mechanistic insight into fitter strain propagation
Influenza viral passaging through pre-vaccinated mice shows that emergent antigenic site mutations on the viral hemagglutinin (HA) impact host receptor-binding affinity and, therefore, the evolution of fitter influenza strains. To understand this phenomenon, we computed the Significant Interactions Network (SIN) for each residue of HA and mapped the networks of antigenic site residues on the HA of H1N1. Specific antigenic site residues are ‘linked’ to RBS residues via their SIN and mutations within ‘‘RBS-linked’' antigenic residues can significantly influence receptor-binding affinity by impacting the SIN of key RBS residues. In contrast, other antigenic site residues do not have such ‘‘RBS-links’’ and do not impact receptor-binding affinity upon mutation. Thus, a potential mechanism emerges for how immunologic pressure on RBS-linked antigenic residues can contribute to evolution of fitter influenza strains by modulating the host receptor-binding affinity.
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12/14/11
Humoral, Cellular Activity of MUC1 Vaccine Shrinks Tumors In Vivo
PNAS, Immune recognition of tumor-associated MUC1 is achieved by a fully synthetic aberrantly glycosylated MUC1 tripartite vaccine.
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12/9/11
Turning bacteria's shield into a weapon against it
Scientists in Germany have synthesised the core part of a sugar compound produced by the pathogenic bacteria responsible for meningitis - Neisseria meningitides - which could be used in a vaccine for meningococcal diseases, in particular meningitis B.
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12/1/11
A sweet T cell response
Although protein-polysaccharide conjugate vaccines provide notable clinical benefits, it is still not fully understood how they work. A new mechanism of action for these vaccines has been identified in which T cells can recognize sugar epitopes in the context of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) provided they are bound to a protein ‘anchor’, which allows binding of the sugar epitope to the MHC (pages 1602–1609).
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