Seminar "Role of carbohydrates in cell-cell interactions in aquatic organisms"

Title: "Role of carbohydrates in cell-cell interactions in aquatic organisms"

Speaker: Prof. Yann Guerardel, Institute for Structural and Functional Glycobiology, UGSF CNRS, Université de Lille, France / iGCORE, Gifu University, Japan

Abstract:

Of the three families of macromolecules, polynucleotides, proteins and complex sugars (or glycans), it is the latter that has the highest potential for information transfer in biological systems. Indeed, glycans, whether present in the form of oligo- and polysaccharides, glycoproteins and glycolipids, are characterized by a structural diversity much greater than that of other families thanks to the almost infinite number of linear and branched monosaccharide sequences that can be generated. Thus, by virtue of their structural diversity and their location on the surface of all biological systems, glycans occupy a prominent place for finely regulating the intercellular interactions involved in, among others, morphogenesis, embryogenesis, fertilization and infection.

During this presentation, I will first give a brief overview of the chemical diversity and biosynthesis of major forms of glycosylation in eukaryotes and how this variability can be assessed. Then, through a few examples, I will demonstrate how glycans have certainly played a central role in the emergence of metazoan organisms and continue to contribute to the adaptation of marine and aquatic organisms to their environment.