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

事实上，人体的每个细胞都被一层富含碳水化合物的被膜所包围，被称为糖萼。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进入细胞表面来指导细胞通讯和行为的能力。它也起着重要的保护作用，作为抵御病原体的屏障，但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，其功能的重要性，它的作用一直是难以捉摸的，由于令人难以置信的复杂性，因此忽视了作为其研究的工具是失踪。的生化和生物物理机制的选择性结合和运输的蛋白质和病原体内的糖萼仍然知之甚少。在这个项目中，我们的目标是通过开发实验性糖萼模型和新方法来探索分子细节中的选择性转运，从而对糖萼内的分子扩散有一个机械的理解。该项目的结果将提供新的工具，以促进我们对糖萼功能的基本理解，这些功能可能在未来有助于应对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.