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Glycans in evolution and development
Author(s) -
Merry Catherine L.R.,
Astrautsova Sviatlana A.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
embo reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.584
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1469-3178
pISSN - 1469-221X
DOI - 10.1038/embor.2008.119
Subject(s) - glycan , biology , computational biology , evolutionary biology , genetics , glycoprotein
This EMBO Workshop on Glycoscience and Development took place between 9 and 12 December, 2007, in Lille, France, and was organized by P. Delannoy, Y. Guerardel, T. Merry and J.‐C. Michalski.![][1] It has been recognized for some time that congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDGs) can lead to numerous and diverse problems during development, particularly neural development (Freeze, 2007). This illustrates the importance of glycosylation in the process and has encouraged research that has identified many developmentally regulated proteins involved in N ‐glycosylation. Changes in the glycans attached to protein or lipid cores have also been identified in evolutionary processes—with possible relevance to the formation of the modern human brain (Angata et al , 2006; Schwartz & Domowicz, 2004)—and recent technological advances have made the study of glycan attachment possible for a wide range of scientists.The EMBO Workshop on Glycoscience and Development was therefore a timely meeting, which brought together experts in the specialist field of glycobiology with developmental and evolutionary biologists—who were keen to understand better this complex topic (Varki, 2006)—and encouraged the participation of younger scientists. The workshop was a three‐day event at the historic Couvent de Minimes in the old town of Lille, France.The workshop was organized around three main themes. The first focused on recent technological advances in glycoscience, particularly those relating to developmental and evolutionary biology. The second discussed how glycosylation might affect development and focused on developmental processes in which the role of sugar modification is better understood, as well as studies of CDGs in which development is affected. The third shifted the focus to studies investigating the importance of glycosylation in evolutionary biology, including comparative studies of glycosylation in different species and the possible implications of these changes.The meeting opened with a lively debate that was sponsored by the BioTethed project … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif