Our research interests
Carbohydrates (such as sugars, glycans and polysachharides) provide the largest biomass on Earth and are central to many aspects of biotechnology. As such glycoscience and glycobiotechnology have broad applications in the development of biofuels, biomaterials and food stuffs from recycled and readily available biomass, as well as in medical research. Through investigation of the chemistry, structure and interactions associated with various carbohydrate molecules, it is possible to understand mechanisms of disease, develop novel glyco-based therapeutics and replicate the natural biosynthesis of glycans for synthetic purposes. However, the complex and diverse molecular nature of carbohydrates means that there is an urgent need to develop robust, wide-ranging synthetic and analytical methodologies for general use in this area.
In the Flitsch lab. we have developed, and are continuing to expand, a toolbox for the synthesis and analysis of complex carbohydrates in order to understand their function.
Selection of recent publications
- Research article
P. Both, H. Busch, P. P. Kelly, F. G. Mutti, N. J. Turner, S. L. Flitsch, Sabine J. ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION., 55; 1511 - 1513. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201510028 - JAN 22 2016
- Discrimination of epimeric glycans and glycopeptides using IM-MS and its potential for carbohydrate sequencing
Both, P.; Green, A. P.; Gray, C. J.; Sardzik, R.; Voglmeir, J.; Fontana, C.; Austeri, M.; Rejzek, M.; Richardson, D.; Field, R. A.; Widmalm, G.; Flitsch, S. L.; Eyers, C. E. NATURE CHEMISTRY. 6(1); 65 - 74. DOI 10.1038/NCHEM.1817 - JAN 2014
- Accelerated Enzymatic Galactosylation of N-Acetylglucosaminolipids in Lipid Microdomains
Noble, Gavin T.; Craven, Faye L.; Voglmeir, Josef; Sardzik, Robert; Flitsch, Sabine L.; Webb, Simon J. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 134(31); 13010 - 13017. DOI 10.1021/ja302506t - AUG 8 2012
- Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of O-Mannosylpeptides in Solution and on Solid Phase
- Sardzik, Robert; Green, Anthony P.; Laurent, Nicolas; Both, Peter; Fontana, Carolina; Voglmeir, Josef; Weissenborn, Martin J.; Haddoub, Rose; Grassi, Paola; Haslam, Stuart M.; Widmalm, Goran; Flitsch, Sabine L. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 134(10); 4521 - 4524. DOI 10.1021/ja211861m - MAR 14 2012
- Enzymatic Amine Acyl Exchange in Peptides on Gold Surfaces
Castangia, Roberto; Austeri, Martina; Flitsch, Sabine L. ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION. 51(52); 13016 - 13018. DOI 10.1002/anie.201205404 - 2012
- Glycoprotein Labeling Using Engineered Variants of Galactose Oxidase Obtained by Directed Evolution
Rannes, Julie B.; Ioannou, Avgousta; Willies, Simon C.; Grogan, Gideon; Behrens, Carsten; Flitsch, Sabine L.; Turner, Nicholas J. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 133(22); 8436 - 8439. DOI 10.1021/ja2018477 - JUN 8 2011
Our expertise
- (i) glycoarrays to study glycoenzyme activity and discover carbohydrate-protein interactions
- (ii) ion mobility mass spectrometry for high resolution structural analysis of carbohydrates
- (iii) mass spectrometry for the label free identification of carbohydrate-binding proteins.
- (iv) chemoenzymatic synthesis of glycoconjugates (glycopeptides, glycolipids, etc.)