# Chemical Tools for the Investigation and Manipulation of Protein Glycosylation

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 2021 · $311,607

## Abstract

ABSTRACT - “Chemical Tools for the Investigation and Manipulation of Protein Glycosylation”
The broad goal of this proposal is the development of chemical tools that will enable the facile and robust
identification of glycoproteins, inhibition of specific types of glycosylation, and the discovery of glycosylation-
mediated biological interactions. The addition of carbohydrates to proteins, or glycosylation, is one of the most
common forms of posttranslational modifications and is associated with various processes, including protein
stability, macromolecular interactions, and cellular signaling. Unfortunately, the currently available tools for
interrogating these functions fall short, which limits the study of glycosylation to a few expert labs. We plan to
tackle this unmet need in three specific aims. Aim 1 builds on our development of metabolic chemical
reporters, with a focus on making these chemical tools selective for different classes of glycosylation. Aim 2
proposes to directly transform selective chemical reporters into selective small-molecule inhibitors of specific
glycosyltransferases. Aim 3 leverages the advantages of chemoenzymatic modification of glycosylation to install
specific photo-cross-linkers onto living cells, with a focus on identifying biological interactions that are
mediated by glycans.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10166867
- **Project number:** 5R01GM125939-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Matthew Robert Pratt
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $311,607
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-15 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10166867

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10166867, Chemical Tools for the Investigation and Manipulation of Protein Glycosylation (5R01GM125939-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10166867. Licensed CC0.

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