Co-Chairs:
Joseph Barchi, Jr., NCI

Natcher Conference Center - Balcony A

If you ask the person on the street “What are carbohydrates?” chances are they will expound about those starchy things that Dr. Atkins says make you fat, or the glucosamine/chondroitin complex they take for creaking old bones. But the truth is that in a biological context, sugars are important for everything from early embryonic development to the proper functioning of most important cellular proteins throughout our lifetimes. Sugars come in many “flavors”, all with their own specific role in development as well as in a variety of different ailments. Today, the study of “glycomics is advancing exponentially and increasing the awareness among cellular and chemical biologists, that sugars play important roles in many disease states. This symposium is meant to highlight some of the latest developments in the field as well as “imprint” a few unconverted minds with the fact that glycans are the critical third set of biopolymers that, with proper understanding, may guide therapeutic intervention in cancer, AIDS and many other human maladies.

Program:

Glycans in Biology: Swimming in a Sea of Complexity
Joe Barchi, NCI

Carbohydrate Microarray Technology for Cancer Research
Jeff Gildersleeve, NCI

Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation: A View of Clinical Glycobiology
Donna Krasnewich, NHGRI

Elucidating polysaccharide structure on cells by NMR"
Daron Freedberg, FDA

The 'O-GlcNAc code': Clues from Animal models of Human Disease
John Hanover, NIDDK