Glycobiology and Human Diseases

Gherman Wiederschain, M.D., Ph.D., is Research Associate Professor and Visiting Scholar in the Biology Department at Boston College, Boston, MA, USA.

Introduction: Glycobiology and diseases. Immunoglobulins, inflammation and glycosylation. Analytical Techniques for structural Characterization of Glycosaminoglycan Oligosaccharides. Natural anti-glycan antibodies in malignancies in normal and aberrant pregnancy. Identifying urinary glycans as a possible method for the diagnosis of lysosomal storage diseases. Proteoglycans in health and disease. Glycobiology of Human Milk: Biological Roles and Diseases. Pectins as biological modulators of human physiological reactions. Role of glycosylation in TOLL-like receptor activation and proinflammatory responses. Studying carbohydrate-lectin interactions by computational approaches. Altered sialylation of glycoproteins and its impact on disease pathogenesis. Connection between Parkinson’s disease and Gaucher disease.