Chemistry and Biology of Heparan Sulfate
New Glycoscience Courses Being Offered at University of Utah
Dr. Balagurunathan, the PI of Project I, has developed three advanced graduate level courses for exposing
students to glycosciences at the Univ. of Utah. These include 1) MDCH 7962 “Advanced Topics in
GlycoChemistry”; 2) MDCH 7964 “Advanced Topics in Glycobiology and Glycomedicine” and 3) MDCH 7963
“Advanced Topics in Glycoanalysis”. These three courses together constitute a tour de force for graduate
students, health science students and post-doctoral fellows who would like to expand their knowledge of
glycoscience at the intersection of chemistry and biology with the final goal of translating their findings to
clinically usable glycan-based therapeutic agents. Each of these unique courses involves didactic lecture
component. Furthermore, enrollees are expected to solve take home exams, write NIH-style pre- or postdoctoral fellowship application and present the proposal. The lectures/topics comprising these courses are as
below:
1) MDCH 7962 “Advanced Topics in GlycoChemistry”
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1: Monosaccharides and oligosaccharide Structures
2: Protecting groups for carbohydrate synthesis
3: Synthesis of functionalized sugars I
4: Synthesis of functionalized sugars II
5: Strategies for oligosaccharide synthesis I
6: Strategies for oligosaccharide synthesis II
7: Synthesis of aminoglycosides
8: Synthesis of Sialoglycosides
9: One-pot glycosylation
10: Solid phase oligosaccharide synthesis
11: Enzymes in oligosaccharide synthesis
12: Synthesis of N- and O-linked glycopeptides
13: Synthesis of glycosidase/glycosyl transferase Inhibitors
14: Seminar Presentation
15: Seminar Presentation
2) MDCH 7963 “Advanced Topics in Glycoanalysis”
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1: Chromatography of carbohydrates
2: Chromatography of carbohydrates
3: Analysis of glycan constituents
4: Isolation/release of glycans of biological origin
5: Labeling of glycans to improve detection limits
6: Compositional analysis of glycosaminoglycans
7: Mass spectrometric analysis of glycans
8: Mass spectrometric analysis of glycosaminoglycans
9: NMR analysis of glycans
10: Electrophoretic analysis of glycans
11: Sequence analysis of glycans
12: Analysis of glycan-protein interactions
13: Analysis of glycan-protein interactions
14: Seminar Presentation
15: Seminar Presentation
3) MDCH 7964 “Advanced Topics in Glycobiology and Glycomedicine”
 1: Overview of Glycans – Structures and functions
 2: Glycans - Biosynthesis
 3: Glycans in Embryogenesis and Morphogenesis
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4: Glycans in Stem Cells and Differentiation
5: Early childhood diseases caused by aberrant glycans
6: Roles of glycans in the heart and lungs
7: Roles of glycans in vascular diseases
8: Glycans in cell growth and apoptosis
9: Vascular, Cerebral, and Tissue aging, glycans in senescence
10: Diabetes, Arthritis, and Inflammation – role of glycans
11: Errors in glycan biosynthetic and metabolic enzymes
12: Glycan-based Biomaterials in Tissue Engineering
13: Glycans and Glycoconjugates in Medicine
14: Seminar Presentation
15: Seminar Presentation