France Partnering Award: Emerging Tools to Define the Role of Glycocalyces in Cell Trafficking at Endothelial Walls
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leeds
Department Name: Sch of Biomedical Sciences
Abstract
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Publications
Curk T
(2022)
Controlling Superselectivity of Multivalent Interactions with Cofactors and Competitors.
in Journal of the American Chemical Society
Dubacheva GV
(2023)
Determinants of Superselectivity-Practical Concepts for Application in Biology and Medicine.
in Accounts of chemical research
Jabeguero D
(2023)
Enzymatic Glyco-Modification of Synthetic Membrane Systems.
in Biomolecules
Kirichuk O
(2023)
Competitive Specific Anchorage of Molecules onto Surfaces: Quantitative Control of Grafting Densities and Contamination by Free Anchors.
in Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids
Perez S
(2023)
Glycosaminoglycans: What Remains To Be Deciphered?
in JACS Au
Srimasorn S
(2022)
A quartz crystal microbalance method to quantify the size of hyaluronan and other glycosaminoglycans on surfaces.
in Scientific reports
| Description | The glycocalyx or 'sugar coat' is the carbohydrate-rich layer lining the vascular endothelium and every cell in the human body. It has a key role in cellular communication, for example, during an immune response circulating immune cells adhere to surface carbohydrates on blood vessels, which act as anchor points, allowing them to then pass through the endothelium into their target tissues to elicit the desired local immune response. Even though the importance of these pathways is well established, the underlying physical mechanisms remain major open questions. Researchers from the University of Leeds and Université Grenoble Alpes used IPA funding to expand an existing collaboration, leveraging complimentary expertise as well as newly acquired state-of-the-art microscopy equipment to study the role of glycocalyces in immune cell trafficking at endothelial walls. The funding facilitated several short and long exchange visits by PhD students and senior researchers that focussed not only on developing and exchanging the required technical expertise in for example AI-based image analysis or cell surface model design, but also on expanding the breadth of research collaborations between the universities. For example, an emerging collaboration with the Department for Molecular Chemistry (DCM) at the University Grenoble Alpes now focusses specifically on the development of new cell-surface models. IPA funding laid the foundation for the researchers to secure further BBSRC funding, a responsive mode grant, to develop novel tools to study glycan selectivity and specificity in artificial blood vessels on a chip. Such selective probes can be a powerful research tool but also have potential medical applications as they could be used to distinguish cancer from healthy cells. |
| Exploitation Route | See entry above. |
| Sectors | Education Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology |
| Description | Superselective cell targeting through multivalent lectin-glycan interactions |
| Amount | £742,540 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/X00158X/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2023 |
| End | 02/2026 |
| Description | Academic Collaboration - Bureau (LIPhy) |
| Organisation | Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Physique |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | L. Bureau is an international project partner in BBSRC project BB/X00158X/1 'Superselective cell targeting through multivalent lectin-glycan interactions', led by R. P. Richter. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Technical expertise in blood vessels on a chip. |
| Impact | This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration, including cell and glycobiology, biomedicine, chemical biology and biophysics. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Academic Collaboration - Debarre (LIPhy, ANR) |
| Organisation | Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Physique |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The Richter Lab is a project partner in the SOFA project, and will provide expertise, intellectual input and training. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr. Debarre at Liphy leads the project 'Soft adhesion: multivalent interactions at a deformable interface (SOFA)' funded by the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR). |
| Impact | This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration, including biophysics, chemsitry and chemical biology. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Academic Collaboration - Debarre (LIPhy, IRGA) |
| Organisation | Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Physique |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The Richter Lab is a project partner in the CASIMIR project, and will provide expertise, intellectual input and training. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr. Debarre at Liphy leads the project 'Cell Adhesion at a Soft Interface through Multivalent InteRactions (CASIMIR)' funded by the University Grenoble Alpes. |
| Impact | This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration, including biophysics and chemistry. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Academic Collaboration - Dubacheva (UGA) |
| Organisation | University of Grenoble |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The Richter Lab will provide access to research facilities, office and lab space during the planned visits of G. Dubacheva and her colleagues, as required for the project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | G. Dubacheva is leading the International Research Booster Project 'Stimuli-responsive polymer brushes: novel model surfaces elaboration (ResPoNSE)', of which R. Richter (Leeds) is the international partner. |
| Impact | Publication - 10.1021/jacs.2c06942 Publication - 10.1021/acs.accounts.2c00672 |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Academic Collaboration - Imberty (CERMAV) |
| Organisation | Centre de Recherches sur les Macromolecules Végétales |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | A. Imberty is an international project partner in BBSRC project BB/X00158X/1 'Superselective cell targeting through multivalent lectin-glycan interactions', led by R. P. Richter. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Scientific expertise for the identification of lectins, and technical expertise and reagents towards the design, production and analysis of lectin modules, as required for the project. |
| Impact | This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration, including cell and glycobiology, biomedicine, chemical biology and biophysics. |
| Start Year | 2023 |