By Chardelle Prevatt

The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes severe infections in patients with cystic fibrosis. In patients with compromised immune defenses, these infections can lead to serious complications, reduced quality of life, and high mortality rates.

P. aeruginosa infections are challenging to treat since the bacteria coat themselves in a sticky slime or biofilm that protects them against antibiotics. This slime has many components, one of which is a sugar polymer called PEL. P. aeruginosa secretes this polymer specifically to make the slime stronger during the beginning stages of infection. In a recently published paper based on a GlycoNet-funded project, GlycoNet researchers Dr. Lynne Howell, Lindsey Marmont, Gregory Whitfield, and their colleagues focus on the protein PelC that is required to make PEL. Read more.

GlycoNet and the CNTRP are pleased to share a new joint publication that captures current and future areas of research collaborations and enhanced synergy between the two networks. The publication is an important output of a joint workshop held in May 2016.  Topics described and covered in the publication included:

• the use of enzymes to generate universal tissue and blood products,
• the role of antibody glycan structures in inflammation,
• glycosylation of exosomes and microvesicles,
• cryopreservation technologies,
• mass cytometry analysis,
• microbiome glycans, and
• xenotransplantation.

This publication will be used as a blueprint to guide future research and partnership strategies between GlycoNet and CNTRP. Read more.

By Chris Dall

Early last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a list of 12 priority pathogens for which new antibiotics are urgently needed. The list was dominated by gram-negative bacteria, which have become resistant to multiple classes of antibiotics.

Although gram-negative bacteria have emerged as a major public health threat in part because of their ability to acquire and pass on mobile resistance elements, they also have what [GlycoNet scientist and] McMaster University biochemistry professor Eric Brown, PhD, calls an “intrinsic resistance” to antibiotics. An outer membrane on the gram-negative cell envelope provides an extra layer of protection against many antibiotics. Read more.

• Be aligned with one of the GlycoNet research themes (see glyconet.ca)
• Be multidisciplinary and involve at least two research groups
• Must have an articulated IP and patentability strategy
• Be accompanied by a commercialization plan provided by the Technology Transfer Office of the Project Leader’s Institution
• Have a clear endpoint, successful completion of which would attract a potential partner
• Ability to demonstrate partner support is preferred

Potential applicants must register by email to Karli Buckle (kbuckle@glyconet.ca) by July 3, 2017. 

For general instructions and deadlines, please visit canadianglycomics.ca/call-for-proposals

Congratulations to all those recently published or making headlines!