Glycoscience sweetens the image of sugars
Once it was commonly believed that sugars possessed miraculous healing properties. Nowadays, they are considered to be a necessary evil, only to be taken in small quantities, like salt. If they are consumed in excess, they can even lead to diseases such as diabetes. However, recent studies suggest this view ignores the critical role played by more complex sugars in many biological structures, as well as their major therapeutic potential. The European Science Foundation (ESF) recently held a workshop on glycoscience, the study of complex sugars in biology. Delegates learnt how glycoscience has become one of the hot subjects for biological and medical research and how it is intimately involved in every aspect of the body's metabolism and immune system. Now the main challenge is to coordinate research in the field, by bringing together the relevant specialisms and deciding on which areas to focus, claims ESF workshop convenor, Tony Merry from Manchester University in the UK. 'There is so much progress in the field [that] it is a bit difficult to predict where the greatest impact will be,' says Dr Merry. Complex sugars are involved each time cells, and smaller structures within cells, communicate or bind together. They play a major role in processes such as immune recognition and functions in the brain, such as memory. Complex carbohydrates are often implicated in diseases where these functions go wrong. These include auto-immune disorders such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as some cancers. The body's immune response is often dependent on the identity and location of sugars on antigens. These are molecules on the surface of pathogens such as bacteria, or any cells or smaller biological components such as protein complexes, which are recognised by the body's own defences. Complex sugars such as polysaccharides are major components of antigens, along with lipids (fatty compounds) and proteins. In effect, antigens determine the outcome of an infectious disease and the host organism's response. Structural differences between these antigens often account for the inability of many diseases to cross from one species to another (known as the species barrier). This is the case with influenza, where key molecules on the virus interact with different complex sugars in birds from those in humans. The ESF workshop highlighted the need to develop the field of glycoscience, the importance of which has been greatly undervalued. There is also a pressing need to increase European research in this area. 'We decided that we need to all speak with one voice through a single organisation in Europe so we have agreed to expand the UK based Glycoscience Forum,' says Dr Merry. 'We also decided this should be reflected by recruitment of members throughout Europe onto committees.' It was agreed that although world class expertise in many areas exists, Europe does not have the same presence and image as has been forged in the USA and Japan. Therefore, the profile of glycoscience needs to be raised, not only among the public but also within the scientific community itself. The importance of the field has been played down, partly because it appears too difficult to understand and analyse. The chemistry can be simplified and defined in terms of essential active constituents and interactions, as has been achieved for DNA and proteins. However, these are made up from more straightforward components, namely nucleic acids and amino acids. The same rationalisation needs to be applied to carbohydrates to put glycomics (the science of sugars) on the same par as genomics (genes) and proteomics (proteins). It is vital that this is achieved since glycomics, genomics and proteomics are all important for developing new therapies, which depend on integrating all three disciplines rather than advancing in one field while ignoring the others. The ESF Exploratory Workshop, 'Glycoscience Comes Of Age', was held at Kolocep, Croatia, in May 2007. The main actions coming from the workshop included greater cooperation and collaboration with other international groups, more widespread training in the field of glycol science and increased involvement with industry. The results of the workshop highlighted that the needs of medical research should be considered and the role that glycoscience can play in medicine. There was a feeling that a focus for research activities in the area of glycoscience in infection and disease was required.