Towards the synthesis of an acetal-free TF antigen from glucosamine
Type of Proposal
Oral Presentation
Faculty
Faculty of Science
Faculty Sponsor
Dr. John Trant
Proposal
UWill Discover 2018 Abstract Asma Ghafoor, Iraj Sadraei, John F. Trant Towards the synthesis of an acetal-free TF antigen from glucosamine Carbohydrates make up many of the key molecules in our body, especially those involved in signaling, and these systems are of growing interest in regard to better understanding and treating diseases. Carbohydrates are increasingly being found to play an important role in the immunogenic responses to different microbial infections and even to cancer. In terms of cancers, certain carbohydrates have been found to be expressed only on the surface of carcinomas: they are not found on healthy cells. The TF antigen, a simple disaccharide, is one such marker and is found on >85% of all carcinomas regardless of organ (ie breast, ovarian, cervical, prostate, lung, liver etc.); however, the immune system is not good at identifying carbohydrates. Consequently, we need to design new synthetic vaccines to draw attention to these targets so that the body can initiate an immune response to kill the cancer., Unfortunately, the highly biodegradable nature of carbohydrates, when exposed to various pH conditions and enzymes in the body, make it difficult to use carbohydrates in vivo. As a result, extensive and complex syntheses must be carried out to create disaccharides with better enzymatic resistance, so that they can exist long enough to initiate the immune response. The Trant Team hopes to create more stable carbohydrates by removing the unstable acetal group by replacing the exo-cyclic oxygen with a methylene group; this class of materials are known as C-glycosides. This presentation will explore our approach of using glucosamine as a starting product to produce this challenging target, and describe the potential application of this technology towards cancer therapy.
Start Date
22-3-2018 9:20 AM
End Date
22-3-2018 10:40 AM
Location
Alumni Auditorium B
Towards the synthesis of an acetal-free TF antigen from glucosamine
Alumni Auditorium B
UWill Discover 2018 Abstract Asma Ghafoor, Iraj Sadraei, John F. Trant Towards the synthesis of an acetal-free TF antigen from glucosamine Carbohydrates make up many of the key molecules in our body, especially those involved in signaling, and these systems are of growing interest in regard to better understanding and treating diseases. Carbohydrates are increasingly being found to play an important role in the immunogenic responses to different microbial infections and even to cancer. In terms of cancers, certain carbohydrates have been found to be expressed only on the surface of carcinomas: they are not found on healthy cells. The TF antigen, a simple disaccharide, is one such marker and is found on >85% of all carcinomas regardless of organ (ie breast, ovarian, cervical, prostate, lung, liver etc.); however, the immune system is not good at identifying carbohydrates. Consequently, we need to design new synthetic vaccines to draw attention to these targets so that the body can initiate an immune response to kill the cancer., Unfortunately, the highly biodegradable nature of carbohydrates, when exposed to various pH conditions and enzymes in the body, make it difficult to use carbohydrates in vivo. As a result, extensive and complex syntheses must be carried out to create disaccharides with better enzymatic resistance, so that they can exist long enough to initiate the immune response. The Trant Team hopes to create more stable carbohydrates by removing the unstable acetal group by replacing the exo-cyclic oxygen with a methylene group; this class of materials are known as C-glycosides. This presentation will explore our approach of using glucosamine as a starting product to produce this challenging target, and describe the potential application of this technology towards cancer therapy.