Like nucleic acids and proteins, glycans are information rich, structurally diverse biopolymers that play critical roles in normal human biology and virtually every disease process. Unlike the fields of Genomics and Proteomics, which have advanced rapidly due to the availability of comprehensive databases and tools for the study of genes and proteins, Glycomics has suffered from a lack of robust glycan libraries, tools, and databases for the study of glycans. In 2001, over a decade after initiation of the Human Genome Project, the NIH invested in its first Glycomics effort, the Consortium for Functional Glycomics (CFG). The CFG utilized several core facilities (including a synthesis core) to develop resources, high-through-put assays, and databases. The CFG’s synthesis core championed chemoenzymatic methods to build and expand a glycan library to populate its glycan arrays, and to use as standards for development of glycan profiling technologies. The limitations of the CFG’s glycan library (which consisted primarily of mono to tetra-saccharides), to represent the biomedical space for carbohydrates, pointed out a critical need for more robust glycan libraries. Initial successes of the CFG’s Glycomic studies drew the attention of multiple NIH institutes, other federal agencies with interest in carbohydrates, and the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences (NRC-NAS). The NRC-NAS convened a committee to “Assess the Importance and Impact of Glycomics and Glycosciences.” Their findings (published in 2012) noted “sugars are ubiquitous and scientists in all fields will only realize the full potential of their research by incorporating and embracing Glycoscience.” A roadmap was proposed for development of synthetic methods, transformative tools, and databases for advancing the Glycosciences. In 2015, the NIH Common Fund Glycoscience Program (CFGSP) was initiated with the mandate to democratize the Glycosciences. To compliment the CFGSP and encourage commercialization of its tools, Program Announcements were issued to the Small Business Innovative Research Program for development of new tools and chemical libraries for the Glycosciences. To date the CFGSP has made outstanding progress on new catalytic and synthetic methodologies, and the automation of glycan synthesis. This presentation will provide historical perspective on the development of an infrastructure (methods, tools, technologies) for carrying out Glycomic studies.

Glycomics and the glycosciences: Building the right tools for the job

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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