Xu Wang
Arizona State University Campus Immersion, AZ·Biochemistry
Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are long, sugar-based chains found in mammals and other organisms. They help control tissue growth, inflammation, blood clotting, viral infection and the formation of amyloid plaques, the protein clumps seen in some brain diseases.
- Fields
Biochemistry
Chemistry
Biophysics
- Topics
glycosaminoglycans
polysaccharides
heparin
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Design and produce lysosomal GAG-degrading enzymes, each with its own fluorescent label, and use TIRFM single-molecule microscopy to characterize the signal each produces when it binds the correct surface-attached substrate.
- Prepare a library of glycosaminoglycans with known structures and sequence them by recording the order in which the fluorescent enzymes bind, testing whether this order reveals the sugar sequence.
- Establish the groundwork for a general single-molecule GAG sequencing method that works on longer, mixed polymers without needing purified, uniform samples.
More about the research
Heparin, a GAG, is the most widely used anticoagulant, or blood thinner. Yet no method exists to read the sequence of these chains. Their large size, complexity and variation make them hard to analyze with conventional bulk methods. This project aims to read GAG sequences one molecule at a time.
Why it matters
A way to sequence glycosaminoglycans could help researchers link GAG structure to activity in blood clotting, inflammation and tissue regeneration. That knowledge could help in developing GAG-based drugs, such as anticoagulants, and in using GAGs as disease biomarkers. The method could work on longer chains and mixed samples that current techniques cannot handle.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Larisa Litovchick
Virginia Commonwealth University, VA·Pharmacology
Test whether high levels of chondroitin-4-sulfate (C4S), a sulfated sugar chain on tumor cells, contribute to platinum resistance in ovarian cancer, using mouse tumor models.
Linda C Hsieh-Wilson
California Institute of Technology, CA·Chemistry
Map glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the hypothalamus and disrupt them in animal models to test effects on food intake, body weight and blood sugar control.
Comert Kural
Ohio State University, OH·Biophysics
Build and iteratively optimize a 3D TIRF-SIM microscope, combining surface-limited illumination, patterned-light super-resolution and evanescent field nanometry, for the best spatial and temporal resolution.
The school
Arizona State University Campus Immersion: 36 labs on PI Pages, $1.0B a year on research, 625 research doctorates a year.
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