Structural Biology of Polysialic Acid Recognition

该应用程序的目的是从结构上研究聚唾液酸与各种细胞蛋白质的结合，并使用亲和力测量来表征这些相互作用。其应用一方面集中在Siglecs(唾液酸结合受体和信号分子)和CXCL12型趋化因子上。这两种蛋白质类型都与聚唾液酸结合，在这两种情况下，结合与各自蛋白质的功能高度相关。在前期工作中，我们已经确定了Siglec-11蛋白中心结构域的高分辨率晶体结构，并表达和纯化了各种较长的蛋白质片段。在方法方面，将使用蛋白质生物化学和结构分析(核磁共振光谱、X射线结晶学)以及各种亲和力测量方法。该项目的特点是与其他几个项目密切合作，最重要的是项目4、5和6。

The aim of the application is to structurally investigate the binding of polysialic acids to various cellular proteins, and to characterize these interactions using affinity measurements. The application focuses on the one hand on Siglecs (sialic acid-binding receptors and signaling molecules) and on the other hand on CXCL12-type chemokines. Both protein types bind polysialic acids, and in both cases the binding is highly relevant for the function of the respective protein. In preliminary work, we already have determined a high-resolution crystal structure of a central domain of the Siglec-11 protein, and various longer protein fragments have been expressed and purified. In terms of methods, protein biochemistry and structure elucidation (NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography) as well as various affinity measurement methods will be used. The project features tight collaborations with several other projects, most importantly projects 4, 5 and 6.