Barrier functions of the sugary cell coat: Understanding how extracellular signalling proteins and bacterial toxins navigate the cell surface

实际上，人体内的每个细胞都被一层富含碳水化合物的被膜包围着，这种被膜叫做糖萼。糖萼参与了多种基本的分子和细胞过程，包括其通过调节细胞外信号蛋白（如趋化因子）到达细胞表面的途径来指导细胞通信和行为的能力。它还发挥着重要的保护作用，作为对抗病原体的屏障，然而一些细菌毒素和病毒利用糖萼进入宿主细胞。尽管糖萼在人体中无处不在，而且具有重要的功能，但由于其难以置信的复杂性，它的作用一直难以捉摸，因此由于缺乏研究它的工具而被忽视。糖萼内蛋白质和病原体的选择性结合和运输的生化和生物物理机制仍然知之甚少。在这个项目中，我们的目标是通过开发实验糖萼模型和新方法来探索糖萼中选择性运输的分子细节，从而对糖萼内的分子扩散进行机制理解。这个项目的结果将为我们进一步了解糖萼的基本功能提供新的工具，这可能在未来有助于治疗传染病和控制免疫反应。

Virtually every cell in the human body is surrounded by a carbohydrate-rich coat called the glycocalyx. The glycocalyx has been implicated in a variety of fundamental molecular and cellular processes including its ability to guide cell communication and behaviour by modulating the access of the extracellular signalling proteins, such as chemokines, to the cell surface. It also plays an important protective role as a barrier against pathogens, yet some bacterial toxins and viruses exploit the glycocalyx to gain entry to the host cells. Despite the omnipresence of the glycocalyx in the human body and its functional importance, its role has been elusive owing to the incredible complexity and hence overlooked as the tools for its investigation were missing.The biochemical and biophysical mechanisms of selective binding and transport of proteins and pathogens within the glycocalyx remain poorly understood. In this project, we are aiming to develop a mechanistic understanding of molecular diffusion within the glycocalyx by developing experimental glycocalyx models and new methods to probe the selective transport across the glycocalyx in molecular detail. The results of this project will provide new tools to further our fundamental understanding of glycocalyx functions that may in the future help tackling infectious diseases and control immune responses.