Transformative technologies for understanding protein-glycan interactions at the cell surface

All living cells are covered in a forest of carbohydrates known as the glycocalyx. Viruses, bacteria and their toxins need to descend through this forest in order to reach the cell membrane and enter the cell. How they interact with different types of carbohydrates (glycans) is therefore important for infection processes. While the components that make up the glycocalyx forest are known to include proteoglycan polymers, glycoproteins and glycolipids, little is known about their three-dimensional arrangement and how this impacts on invasion by pathogens.

In this project you will develop novel super-resolution fluorescence imaging strategies for mapping out the glycocalyx forest and apply these methods to understanding how bacterial toxins and viruses traverse the glycocalyx to allow cell entry.

The project will involve a combination of chemical and biochemical methods for labelling sugar-binding proteins. You will learn to use advanced 3D superresolution microscopy techniques (single-molecule localisation microscopy) and use them to develop strategies that will allow us to see into the glycocalyx forest in unprecedented detail. The project would be suitable for physical, biological or engineering scientists with an interest in biological imaging methods and protein-ligand interactions.