Welcome to the Virtual Glycome!

While DNA and RNA are linear reaction products formed by template-based biosynthetic processes, glycans are branched and non-linear. They are products of metabolic and chemical reactions made possible by a set of enzymes that are called “glycoEnzymes”.

Glycans decorate a vast majority of human proteins and regulate all aspects of normal human physiology and pathophysiology. They have well known roles in inflammatory diseases, thrombotic ailments, cancer, cell development and host-microbiome interactions.

In metazoans, glycosylation primarily occurs in the cellular Endoplasmic Reticulum and Golgi Apparatus. While the individual steps regulating glycan biosynthesis are well-studied, less is known about reaction-transport processes that integrate the individual steps.

Our laboratories are interested in developing an integrative, systems-based understanding of glycosylation. We perform well-defined experiments and combine with mathematical analysis methods including AI-approaches (see figure). Our wet-lab studies focus on CRISPR based methods, single-cell multiomics, mass spectrometry and function studies. Our dry lab develops analysis tools for each of these expt modalities and their integration. Below is a schematic overview of our interests, followed by related computational tools that are presented at this site.