Development and Application of New Peptide Ligation Methods for the Synthesis and Structure-Function Studies of Glycoproteins

More than 50% of all human proteins contain attached carbohydrate groups and thus exist in nature as
glycoproteins. Although the carbohydrates are critical for the biological activity of numerous proteins,
characterising their detailed functions is extremely challenging due to the difficulty obtaining or preparing
glycoproteins in pure form. This research project aims to provide a fundamental solution to this problem
through the development of novel peptide ligation technologies which can be implemented in the assembly
of pure glycoproteins. The utility of these new methods will be demonstrated through the preparation and
functional characterisation of two glycoproteins involved in the control of inflammatory processes