Geert-Jan Boons, PhD, University of Georgia

Geert-Jan Boons, PhD
Geert-Jan Boons, PhD

Research in the Boons Laboratory focuses on the synthesis and biological functions of carbohydrates and glycoconjugates. Part of their research effort focuses on the development of efficient and novel glycosylation methods including combinatorial and solid phase chemistry, the use of new approaches to control anomeric selectivity, the design of new protecting groups and the chemo-enzymatic synthesis of oligosaccharides. Some projects use synthetically modified saccharides to study the factors that are important for carbohydrate-protein complexation and it is hoped that these programs will lead to the rational design of saccharide mimetics that have improved affinities for particular proteins. Apart form synthesis, these projects require sophisticated structural and binding studies. Other programs deal with the preparation of oligosaccharides of biological importance and are often conducted in collaboration with pharmaceutical companies. The long-term objective of these projects is the development of novel carbohydrate-based drugs and vaccines.

See Also: UGA Complex Carbohydrate Research Center (CCRC)

 

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References

  1. Chin Fen Teo, Sampat Ingale, Margreet A. Wolfert, Galal A. Elsayed, Laszlo G. Nöt, John C. Chatham, Lance Wells, and Geert-Jan Boons: Glycopeptide specific monoclonal antibodies suggest new roles for O-GlcNAc. Nat Chem Biol. 2010 May ; 6(5): 338â??343. doi:10.1038/nchembio.338
  2. Pablo Rios, Tom S. Carter, Tiddo J. Mooibroek,* Matthew P. Crump, Micke Lisbjerg, Michael Pittelkow, Nitin T. Supekar, Geert-Jan Boons, and Anthony P. Davis: â??Synthetic Receptors for the High-Affinity Recognition of O-GlcNAc Derivativesâ? Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 3387 â??3392 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201510611
  3. Jennifer Munkley and David J. Elliott: â??Hallmarks of glycosylation in cancerâ?��, Oncotarget, (2016)Vol. 7, No. 23, 35478-35489
  4. Peter V. Robinson, Gabriela de Almeida-Escobedo, Amber E. de Groot, Julia L. McKechnie, and Carolyn R. Bertozzi: â??Live-Cell Labeling of Specific Protein Glycoforms by Proximity-Enhanced Bioorthogonal Ligationâ?, J. Am Chem Soc. 2015 August 26; 137(33): 10452â??10455. doi:10.1021/jacs.5b04279
  5. Zhiyuan Ma and Keith Vosseller: â??Cancer Metabolism and Elevated O-GlcNAc in Oncogenic Signalingâ?, J. Biol. Chem. VOL. 289, NO. 50, pp. 34457â??34465, December 12, 2014 DOI 10.1074/jbc.R114.577718
  6. Christina M. Ferrer, Valerie L. Sodi and Mauricio J. Reginato: O-GlcNAcylation in Cancer Biology: Linking Metabolism and Signaling. J. Mol. Biol., 428(16), 3282-3294 (2016)
  7. Cheng-Xin Gong, Fei Liu, and Khalid Iqbal: O-GlcNAc cycling modulates neurodegeneration. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. (2012) 109(43) 17319-17320
  8. Steffi F. Baldini, Cindy Wavelet, Isabelle Hainault, Céline Guinez, Tony Lefebvre: The Nutrient-Dependent O-GlcNAc Modification Controls the Expression of Liver Fatty Acid Synthase. (2016). J. Mol. Biol., 428(16), 3295-3304
  9. Partha S. Banerjee, Olof Lagerlöf, GeraldW. Hart: Roles of O-GlcNAc in chronic diseases of aging. (2016). Molec. Aspects Med., 51, 1-15.