Glycolipid Interactions in Melanoma Adhesion

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With this new award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program supports the work of Professor Amit Basu, of the Chemistry Department at Brown University. This project is designed to achieve better understanding of carbohydrate-carbohydrate interactions at cell interfaces. These interactions are responsible for mediating various intercellular adhesion and recognition events. The composition of glycolipids at the cell surface, which is strongly correlated with specific developmental stages of embryonic cells, serves as a molecular marker of carcinogenesis and metastasis. Interactions of these glycolipids with carbohydrates on cell surfaces serve signaling and regulatory functions during cell development and adhesion. Although the structures of the specific carbohydrates that are involved in the recognition process have been elucidated, very little is known about key structural features that are critical for cell-cell interactions to occur. This project will develop model systems for detecting and probing carbohydrate-carbohydrate interactions in a systematic fashion. The microscopic details of these interactions will be studied by introducing chemical modifications at selected positions on the carbohydrates in order to increase their binding ability. In addition, the ability of the mutant sugars to modulate cell membrane chemistry will be evaluated.This project will lead to a clearer picture of cell adhesion, which is a fundamental biological phenomenon involved in various scientific fields with significant societal impact such as infectious disease, cancer, bioterrorism, and embryonic development. The program involves multidisciplinary training for undergraduate and graduate students at the interface of chemistry and biology.