Research Projects

Main Research Topics of Pathophysiology of Glycosylation

General aim:
Glycosylation is the most complex modification of biological macromolecules. Glycan chains contribute to various properties of glycoproteins and glycolipids, thereby affecting biological processes such as cell trafficking and signal transduction cascades.

Our group investigates the roles of specific glycoconjugates and glycosyltransferase enzymes in health and disease. After having characterized several types of Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation (CDG) over the past years, we now focus our interest on collagen glycosylation in the context of autoimmune diseases and connective tissue disorders. As a second field of interest, we study the roles of milk oligosaccharides and intestinal glycans on the interactions of gut microbes with the mucosal immune system in mice and humans.

Methodological approaches:

• Protein expression in bacteria and insect cells (baculovirus system)
• Lentivirus-mediated gene transfection
• Gene knockout and overexpression in cell culture and in animal models
• Flow cytometry
• In situ hybridization and histochemistry
• HPLC-based carbohydrate analysis
• Mass spectrometry-based glycoproteomic analysis