CNIC: U.S.-Swedish Research on the Structure and Dynamics of Lipopolysaccharides (LPS)

CNIC：美国-瑞典关于脂多糖（LPS）结构和动力学的研究

• 批准号: 1664696
• 负责人: Wonpil Im
• 金额: $ 1.37万
• 依托单位: Lehigh University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-08-01 至 2018-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1664696&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CNIC; U.S.; Swedish; Research; Structure

This one-year research initiation project through the Catalyzing New International Collaborations (CNIC) program links a new U.S.-Swedish team, led by Wompil Im at the University of Kansas and Göran Widmalm at Stockholm University, for the purpose of developing cooperative research on the structure and dynamics of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) using computational and experimental techniques. An LPS molecule is a complex amphiphatic compound consisting of lipid A, a core oligosaccharide, and an O-antigen polysaccharide with repeating units. These large and complex LPS molecules are vital to both the structural and functional integrity of gram-negative bacteria. The complexity of LPS makes them particularly challenging to study. With this support, the U.S.-Swedish team will combine expertise in both computational and NMR techniques to improve our understanding of the structure and dynamics of individual glycosidic sugar linkages and the impacts of the linkages on the overall LPS structures. Also of interest are the differences and similarities of LPS structure and dynamics in solution and bilayer environments. Peliminary answers to these important fundamental questions may have broader impact by contributing to future research yielding new knowledge of the biological impact of LPS molecules in mammals, such as the cause of fever, septic shock, or other deleterious physiological effects.Responding to recent recommendations in the 2012 book "Transforming Glycoscience: A Roadmap for the Future," published by The National Academies Press, the U.S. and Swedish partners also plan to integrate an education component with the research activities of the collaboration in the area of glycans, a general term for carbohydrates, sugars, and saccharides. In addition to providing graduate student training for one participant from the University of Kansas, the PI will involve two undergraduate students for early career experience with computational glycan biophysics. Therefore while abroad, each U.S. student should gain valuable exposure to an array of forefront computational and NMR techniques used by the U.S.-Swedish team.

这个为期一年的研究启动项目通过催化新的国际合作 (CNIC) 计划，将由堪萨斯大学的 Wompil Im 和斯德哥尔摩大学的 Göran Widmalm 领导的一个新的美国-瑞典团队联合起来，旨在利用计算和实验技术开展脂多糖 (LPS) 结构和动力学的合作研究。 LPS 分子是一种复杂的两亲化合物，由脂质 A、核心寡糖和具有重复单元的 O 抗原多糖组成。这些大而复杂的脂多糖分子对于革兰氏阴性菌的结构和功能完整性至关重要。 LPS 的复杂性使得它们的研究特别具有挑战性。 在这种支持下，美国-瑞典团队将结合计算和核磁共振技术方面的专业知识，以提高我们对单个糖苷键的结构和动力学以及这些键对整个 LPS 结构的影响的理解。 同样令人感兴趣的是溶液和双层环境中 LPS 结构和动力学的差异和相似之处。 这些重要的基本问题的初步答案可能会产生更广泛的影响，有助于未来的研究产生关于脂多糖分子对哺乳动物的生物学影响的新知识，例如发烧、败血性休克或其他有害生理效应的原因。为了响应国家科学院出版社出版的 2012 年书《转变糖科学：未来路线图》中的最新建议，美国和瑞典合作伙伴还计划 将教育内容与聚糖领域的合作研究活动相结合，聚糖是碳水化合物、糖和糖类的总称。除了为堪萨斯大学的一名参与者提供研究生培训外，PI 还将让两名本科生参与计算聚糖生物物理学的早期职业经验。因此，在国外，每个美国学生都应该获得宝贵的机会，接触美国-瑞典团队使用的一系列前沿计算和核磁共振技术。