Glycosphingolipids in the Central Nervous System

Professor Zhongwu Guo is considered an international expert in glycoscience and carbohydrate chemistry. He has more than 30 years of extensive experience in synthetic carbohydrate chemistry and biological studies and applications of various glycoconjugates, especially glycoproteins and glycolipids, such as glycosphingolipids and glycosylphosphatidylinositols. Research in the Guo laboratory is at the interface of chemistry, chemical biology, and biomedical sciences. Its research projects range from the development of novel synthetic methodologies for complex carbohydrates, glycolipids and other glycoconjugates to their biological and medical applications. The methodologies include both chemical and chemoenzymatic syntheses, and the synthetic targets range from biologically important complex oligosaccharides to natural and functionalized glycoconjugates, such as glycosylphosphatidylinositols (GPIs), glycosphingolipids (GSLs), and glycoproteins. The synthesized molecules are employed to study and gain insights into the structures, functions, and action mechanisms of carbohydrates and glycoconjugates in various physiological and pathological processes, such as the interactions of GPIs and GSLs with the cell membrane and the functional roles of GPIs and GSLs in human diseases. New mass spectrometry-based methods are developed to explore GSL-omics of the central nerve system and its relationship with human diseases. Glycoconjugates are also explored for the development of new cancer immunotherapies, including therapeutic cancer vaccines.