Glycobiology and Disease

Objectives

At the end of the course, the student should have the ability to:

- To refer diseases whose mechanisms involve glycans

- To associate structure and the biological function of the glycans and of proteins (lectins, adhesins, antibodies) involved in their recognition.

-To refer state-of-the-art methodologies in Glycobiology for the study of glycans.

- To relate diagnostic methods / technologies for Congenital Diseases of Glycosylation (CDG), cancer and infection.

- To list therapeutics based on glycans or glycoconjugates and vaccine development, correlating with clinical application.

- To formulate questions related to diversity and function of glycans and its importance in pathology.

General characterization

Code

12032

Credits

3.0

Responsible teacher

Maria Angelina de Sá Palma, Paula Alexandra Quintela Videira

Hours

Weekly - 2

Total - 28

Teaching language

Português

Prerequisites

Basic knowledge in Cell and Molecular Biology, Molecular Genetics, Microbiology and Biochemistry.

Bibliography

Essentials of Glycobiology.Varki A, Cummings RD, Esko JD, et al., editors. Essentials of Glycobiology [Internet]. 3rd edition. Cold Spring Harbor (NY): Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; 2015-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK310274/?report=classic

Introduction to Glycobiology, Third Edition Maureen E. Taylor and Kurt Drickamer, Oxford University Press, Inc., New York. 2011, ISBN 978-0-19-956911-3

Artigos científicos selecionados

Disponibilizados pelos docentes na página MOODLE da disciplina.

Teaching method

The teaching will be in Portuguese and English (in the case of foreign students).

The curricular unit is organized into eight themes, each comprising theoretical, theoretical/practical classes and practices. This course will be in b -learning format: i.e. it contains face-to-face classes with teachers and, in addition, a part of teaching is online (videos, documents, forums), making use of computers and the internet as teaching tools. There will be two-thirds of theoretical classes (b-learning) and one-third of practical classes. Theoretical classes include distance-learning classes, online content with resources and videos of teachers. The curricular unit covers tutorial strategies with distance learning sessions and discussion forums on topics of interest. The practical classes include innovative technology and allow students to work hands-on in a variety of laboratory techniques. In this way, the student will update and expand his knowledge in glycobiology and develop critical thinking for application in glycosylation-related diseases. With these teaching methodologies, the aim is to captivate the student from the beginning of the curricular unit, to foster an active and collaborative participation, to foment discussion and criticism, allowing the students to interrelate the various themes among themselves and create bases for eventual application of Glycobiology in their future work.

Evaluation method

A weighted average of:

1) One written test with a 50% weighting (minimum grade of 9) that includes the subjects of all lectures; 2) Presentation and discussion of a scientific article with a 40% weighting; and 3) participation in e-learning lectures (includes quizzes in the moodle platform) with a 10% weighting.

Obligatory frequency to the practical and theoretical-practical lectures.

Subject matter

Calendar Theoretical, Theoretical-Practical/e-learning, Practical

Month	Day	Type of class/ Syllabus	Teacher
September	19	Introduction to the Curricular Unit	Paula Angelina Filipa
September	26	Theoretical: Introduction to Glycobiology: basic concepts of the of the glycan structural diversity	Angelina
October	3	Theoretical: Recognition of glycans by the immune system and immunomodulation. Inflammation and cell migration	Paula
	10	Theoretical: Biosynthesis of glycans – N- and O-glycosylation –ER-GOLGI secretory pathway and glycoprotein processing	Angelina
	17	Theoretical: Molecular recognition of glycans by lectins in disease (infection and cancer). From structure to function.	Angelina
	24	Theoretical-practical: “Glycan-mediated microbial adhesion” - e-learning session (moodle interface)	Paula (e-learning moderator)
	31	Theoretical-practical: Advanced methodologies in Glycobiology for the study of glycans. Identification of aberrant glycosylation in tumor cells through lectins - microscopy / flow cytometry	Angelina
November	7	Practical: NMR for structural characterization of the glycan-protein interaction	Filipa
	14	Theoretical-practical: “Mechanisms of cancer associated glycosylation changes” - e-learning session (moodle interface)	Paula (e-learning moderator)
	21	Theoretical-practical: Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation (CDGs) and human therapy	Paula
	28	Practical: Glycan microarrays to identify glycan binding specificity and ligand discovery	Angelina
December	5	Evaluation – Test
December	12	Presentation and discussion of scientific articles	Paula Angelina Filipa

Programs

Programs where the course is taught: