CAREER: Algorithm and Software Development for MS-Based Glycomics

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Indiana University is given a CAREER award for Dr. Haixu Tang to pursue algorithm and software development for Mass-Spectra-based glycomics, the study of identifying and characterizing all functional oligosaccharides inside a cell. Currently there are three typical protocols to analyze glycoproteins: oligosaccharides are released from proteins and then are analyzed by tandem or even higher MS to elucidate their structures; glycoproteins are enriched and then identified by tandem MS using typical proteomics methodologies without addressing glycans explicitly; and glycoproteins are purified and analyzed by MS/MS to characterize and profile the microheterogeneity of site-specific glycosylations. Glycomics projects require intensive computational analysis of the MS spectra. The objective of this proposal is to develop computational methods for solving several fundamental problems emerging from MS-based glycomics projects, and to develop urgently needed courses and tutorials for educating students and researchers in glycoinformatics. It consists of three specific aims: (1) to continue developing algorithms and software for characterizing oligosaccharide structures, including their sequences, branchings and linkages, from tandem mass spectra; (2) to develop algorithms and software for characterizing site-specific glycosylations in glycoproteins from their LC/MS/MS analyses; and (3) to develop new courses in glycoinformatics and proteome informatics. The success of these goals will provide useful software tools and teaching materials to the glycomics community. Furthermore, it will enable the automation of glycoproteomics analysis of complex sample. The proposed research is highly related to the PI's efforts for the multidisciplinary training for graduate students, particularly in the areas of glycome and proteome informatics, in the School of Informatics at Indiana University.