# Glycans in joint disease and glycosylated lubricin mimetics for osteoarthritis therapy

> **NIH NIH K08** · CORNELL UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $1,000

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
This application seeks support for a specialty board certified (ACVS) equine veterinarian embarking upon an
independent career as a translational clinical scientist. The applicant proposes a multi-disciplinary approach to
study joint lubrication and osteoarthritis (OA), taking advantage of leading experts in cartilage lubrication
mechanics, polymer chemistry and orthopedic research at Cornell University and synthetic glycobiology at
Stanford University. The applicant would work in the laboratories of Dr. Lawrence Bonassar and David
Putnam in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, in addition to her own dedicated laboratory space in the
Veterinary Medical Center and animal research facilities at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Weill
Medical College. Dr. Bonassar has published extensively on lubricin and cartilage biomechanics and also has
an outstanding record of training graduate students and post-doctoral scientists. Dr. Putnam is an expert in
polymer chemistry and the Founding Director of the Cornell Center for Biomaterials. Dr. Nixon is a DVM
clinician scientist and large animal orthopedic surgeon, and Dr. Rodeo is an MD clinician scientist and
orthopedic surgeon. Both Drs. Nixon and Rodeo are experts in orthopedic translational research with proven
track records for training post-doctoral clinician scientists now in independent academic faculty positions. In
addition to these primary mentors, the applicant has assembled a team of enthusiastic collaborators, including
experts in advanced microscopy (Dr. Matthew Paszek) and synthetic glycobiology (Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi), who
add both breadth and depth to the proposed research team. The research environment at Cornell is
exceptionally strong in the relevant disciplines of biomedical engineering, translational orthopedic research,
and chemical engineering, with the expertise of collaborator Dr. Bertozzi in synthetic glycobiology adding a
significant dimension to the proposed research. The applicant's proposal would interrogate how the
glycosylation of lubricin is altered in joint disease, the importance of glycosylation in the design and function of
synthetic lubricin mimetics, and the ability of glycoengineered lubricin biomimetics to ameliorate disease in a
rodent knee instability model of OA. Lectin blotting and mass spectrometry will be employed to characterize
glycan profiles from both cell culture supernatants and normal and OA joints in Aim 1. In Aim 2, synthetic
glycochemistry techniques will be utilized to synthesize, characterize and test the in vitro lubricating function of
glycoengineered mimetics. Using glycoengineered lubricin mimetics synthesized from compounds provided by
Drs. Putnam, Bonassar and Bertozzi, the applicant will investigate the ability of glycoengineered mimetics to
prevent the progression of OA in the rat anterior cruciate ligament transection model of OA in Aim 3. It is
expected that the candidate will begin this research as a juni...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10075673
- **Project number:** 3K08AR068469-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** CORNELL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Heidi Reesink
- **Activity code:** K08 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-07-10 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10075673

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10075673, Glycans in joint disease and glycosylated lubricin mimetics for osteoarthritis therapy (3K08AR068469-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10075673. Licensed CC0.

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