# Glycoscience Tools and Therapeutics

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE · 2024 · $382,500

## Abstract

SUMMARY
Carbohydrate-protein interactions mediate important processes in human physiology and pathophysiology, but
the study of these important interactions remains challenging and highly specialized. A major contributor to this
problem is the weak binding affinity of many carbohydrate-protein interactions, which limits the applicability of
many commonly applied biochemical and biophysical techniques (e.g., ELISA, ITC). This can be somewhat
rectified if natural or synthetic multivalent ligands can be utilized, but in many cases, molecules of this sort are
challenging to synthesize and/or isolate. The development of glycan microarrays has pushed the glycobiology
field forward by enabling numerous groundbreaking studies; however, this technology has yet to become widely
available and can only be utilized when a carbohydrate binding protein has been identified by other means. As
such there is currently a gap between discovery and downstream assays that needs to be filled to push the field
forward. In this proposal we are addressing this gap by developing tools that can identify carbohydrate-protein
interactions, using techniques that are widely available to the scientific community. The tools that we are
developing circumvent the challenge presented by the low affinity carbohydrate-protein interactions by covalently
labeling the carbohydrate binding protein in a carbohydrate directed manner. Here, we propose to: (i) advance
the utility of this approach; and (ii) apply this approach to ask important questions in biology and to target disease
relevant pathways.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10873941
- **Project number:** 5R35GM151083-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE
- **Principal Investigator:** Mark Patrick Farrell
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $382,500
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-07-01 → 2028-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10873941

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10873941, Glycoscience Tools and Therapeutics (5R35GM151083-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10873941. Licensed CC0.

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