Dr. Al Boraston
Research of Dr. Alisdair Boraston
PhD UBC
The recognition of carbohydrates by proteins is a
biological phenomenon of fundamental importance. It is
critical to numerous events including cell and
glycoprotein trafficking, host-pathogen interactions,
cell-cell adhesion, cell-wall remodelling, and plant cell
wall biomass recycling. An understanding of how
carbohydrates are recognized by proteins is central to
designing programs aimed at manipulating these processes
to our benefit.
My areas of research focus on three general themes
of carbohydrate-protein interactions: 1) fundamental work
on mechanisms of carbohydrate recognition, 2) the role of
carbohydrate-protein recognition in host pathogen
interactions (e.g. adhesion of cell surfaces and
bacterial toxin delivery) and 3) the interaction of
enzymes with biotechnologically relevant carbohydrates
such as cellulose and starch.
The first theme is critical to understanding how
carbohydrates are recognized by proteins. Ultimately,
this will be relevant to informing the design and/or
screening of carbohydrate therapeutics.
Carbohydrate-based drugs are currently used in a number
of therapies including, but not limited to, anti-biotics,
anti-diabetics, anti-virals, anti-toxins, cancer
treatments, and anti-inflammatories.
The second theme is related directly to the role of
carbohydrate recognition in microbial pathogenesis. It
has long been known that carbohydrate recognition is
involved in bacterial toxin delivery and bacterial
adhesion. Identification and characterization of
carbohydrate recognition in these events may lead to
treatments of diseases caused by Mycobacterium
tuberculosis, Salmonella enterica, Vibrio cholerae, and
species of Clostridium.
Microbes produce a number of enzymes that are active plant cell wall polysaccharides, such as cellulose and mannans, and storage polysaccharides, such as starch. Cellulose is heavily used in the textile industry while starch is important to both the food and textile industry. Furthermore, the microbial enzymes that are active on these polysaccharides are also of immense importance to the industries dealing with these polysaccharides. The last theme deals with the recognition of biotechnologically relevant carbohydrates by the catalytic and substrate-binding modules of microbial enzymes. Such studies hold the potential to yield unprecedented control over the enzymatic modification of polysaccharides in industry.