Glycopolymer-Wrapped Carbon Nanotubes for Profiling Carbohydrate-Protein Interactions

Description:
Carbohydrate recognitions of specific proteins play a crucial role in many biological processes, including cellular adhesion, cell-cell communication, viral infection, immune response, cancer development and metastasis. Therefore, glycoscience research specifically concerning the carbohydrate-protein interactions can provide an abundant opportunity to discover molecular mechanisms of biological processes, potential therapeutic targets, and diagnostic mechanisms for various diseases. The highly predictable electronic structures and optical properties of chirality-defined single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) offer many advantages for biochemical sensing and imaging advancement. Synthetic glycopolymers – polymers with carbohydrate pendant groups – have been used extensively to mimic the functions of naturally occurring glycoconjugates. In our recent studies, we investigated a small library of precision synthesized glycopolymers with monosaccharide and disaccharide groups for stabilizing SWCNTs via non-covalent complexation in aqueous condition. Among the glycopolymers tested, disaccharide lactose-containing glycopolymers demonstrate effective stabilization of SWCNTs in water, which strongly depends on carbohydrate density and polymer chain length as well. In addition, we investigated the interactions of noncovalent complexes of single-wall carbon nanotubes that are wrapped by glycopolymers with the specific carbohydrate-binding proteins (CBPs). In this presentation, the aqueous dispersions of SWCNTs stabilized by glycopolymers and the specific binding behavior of glycopolymer-functionalized SWCNTs with CBPs and its application for profiling carbohydrate-protein recognitions will be discussed.

Speaker: Xue-Long Sun - Cleveland State University
Xue-Long Sun is a Full Professor of Medicinal Chemistry (primary) and Biomedical Engineering (secondary) at Cleveland State University. His group is working on Sia-focused glycomics, chemical glycobiology and medicinal chemistry, glycopolymers and glyco-liposomes-based biomaterials. Furthermore, they have been working recombinant thrombomodulin expression and glyco-engineering research.