Understanding and manipulating ganglioside biosynthesis
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The mammalian cell surface is comprised of a heterogenous mixture of proteins and lipids decorated by carbohydrates. These molecules are known as glycoconjugates. Among the many types of glycolipids imbedded within the plasma membrane is a class of negatively charged species known as gangliosides. Gangliosides, which are characterized by the presence of sialic acid residues, are responsible for regulating the activity of many cell surface proteins and serve as recognition targets for cell-cell communication and pathogen invasion. To investigate the biological roles of gangliosides in mammalian cells, I have employed metabolic oligosaccharide engineering techniques to introduce small structural changes into sialic acid residues. Using these methods, I have successfully demonstrated the biosynthesis of photocrosslinking gangliosides in mammalian cells. These photocrosslinking gangliosides can be used to capture and isolate transient ganglioside-mediated interactions in their native environment. I have also used metabolic engineering techniques to probe the substrate selectivity of ganglioside sialyltransferases in mammalian cells. My results illustrate significant differences in the ability of different cell lines to metabolize sialic acid analogs; these differences may be due species-specific variations in sialyltransferase specificity.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2010 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Whitman, Chad Michael |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Chemistry |
| Primary advisor | Du Bois, Justin |
| Primary advisor | Kohler, Jennifer, 1972- |
| Thesis advisor | Du Bois, Justin |
| Thesis advisor | Kohler, Jennifer, 1972- |
| Thesis advisor | Khosla, Chaitan, 1964- |
| Advisor | Khosla, Chaitan, 1964- |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Chad Michael Whitman. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Chemistry. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph. D.)--Stanford University, 2010. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2010 by Chad Michael Whitman
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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