Core Services
The following services are offered in partnership with the Alberta Glycomics Centre. For more information about these services, please contact: Elizabeth Nanak enanak@ualberta.ca.
Carbohydrate Synthesis
The chemical synthesis of glycans is a highly specialized research area, requiring individuals with exceptional expertise. The Network has one of the highest concentrations of glycan synthesis scientists worldwide. In addition to expertise, we serve as one of only three beta test sites for novel automated instrumentation for synthesizing glycans. We also have the infrastructure and expertise to analyze and characterize the structure-function relationships of carbohydrates and provide consulting and troubleshooting. Synthesis scale-up could be provided by our partners.
Examples of carbohydrate synthesis include:
- Oligosaccharides
- Building Blocks
- Sugar Nucleotides
- Cyclodextrins
- Rhamnolipids
- Sphingolipids
- Glycopeptides
- Kdo Glycosides
- Solid-phase oligosaccharide synthesis
- Chemoenzymatic Synthesis
- Solid-Phase Synthesis using your Building Blocks
- Glycoconjugation Methods
- Glycoconjugate Synthesis
Glycan Structure Analysis
We offer a unique set of services and expertise for solving your problems in glycomics research. We are experienced in the analysis of complex glycans and glycoproteins and can provide routine analysis or help to interpret complex data. Our services include:
- NMR
- Routine characterization of oligosaccharide samples for QC and analysis
- Complex structure determination, including high-resolution conformational analysis and protein-carbohydrate complexes
- 1D/2D NMR (300, 400, 500, 600, 700 MHz), STD-NMR
- Compositional analysis (stoichiometry) of polysaccharides
- Mass spectrometry
- Oligosaccharide/Glycan sequencing
- Determination of unusual or modified glycan structures
- Nano-ES, MALDI TOF/TOF, FT-ICR
- Molecular modeling
- Molecular dynamics of glycoproteins and protein-carbohydrate complexes
- AMBER (GLYCAM)
- Gaussian
- Biomolecular interactions
- SPR (BIAcore)
- Microcalorimetry
- Expertise
- Glycan analysis is often complex, and can require advanced training. We will work with you to interpret data from even your most complex samples.
Library Screening
Glycan Screening Facility
Operated by the Alberta Glycomics Centre at the University of Alberta, the Glycan Screening Facility is the state-of-the-art offering carbohydrate library screening capabilities.
The Glycan Screening Facility and its expert staff employ advanced electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) instrumentation and methods to screen carbohydrate libraries (as well as other classes of compounds) against target proteins to identify novel inhibitors and natural receptors that may be exploited for the development of new and effective treatments for a variety of bacterial and viral infections as well as other diseases. Our carbohydrate collection includes over 250 compounds (including ABH and Lewis histogroup antigens, human milk oligosaccharides, gangliosides, and plant and bacterial oligosaccharides). The Glycan Screening Facility is dedicated to developing novel ESI-MS methods which allow identification, characterization, and quantification of protein-carbohydrate interactions in vitro. Researchers may access the Glycan Screening Facility through research collaborations or on a fee-for-service basis.
48Hour Discovery INC.
48Hour Discovery Inc. launched as a self-sustaining company in February 2017 with the support of GlycoNet, in partnership with the Alberta Glycomics Centre. This accelerated service is designed to help academia and industry in molecular discovery in the areas of therapeutics, diagnostics, and probe development.
At 48Hour Discovery, a client mails the protein solution for analysis and in as few as forty-eight hours later, scientists provide a list of molecules that bind to the protein. The screening services provide risk management, expert analysis and partnerships with the Network’s academic and industrial collaborators. If you have a molecular target in mind, please contact us.
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