Project description
Paving the way to rational design of glycan foldamers
Biopolymers, long-chain molecules made of common building blocks, include proteins, carbohydrates and nucleic acids. The formation of complex 3D architectures from peptides and nucleic acids, respectively, is well-characterised, enabling the construction of similar molecules, "foldamers," by synthetic chemists. The same is not true of carbohydrate-based polymers, yet polysaccharides or glycans may offer even greater opportunity for the generation of 3D structures. The ERC-funded GLYCOFOLD project will investigate carbohydrate structure, design new methods to stabilise conformations, and implement protocols for systematic structural analysis. The project’s state-of-the-art synthetic platforms and analytical techniques could open the door to a new field of carbohydrate-based foldamers akin to peptide-based ones.
Objective
Natural biopolymers have inspired the development of synthetic analogues – i.e. foldamers – capable of adopting defined conformations and forming programmable three-dimensional architectures. These compounds are mainly based on peptides and nucleic acids, that are well understood at the molecular level. The diversity, intrinsic chirality, and ability to generate hierarchical assemblies suggest that carbohydrates hold an even larger potential for the generation of three-dimensional structures. However, the complexity of carbohydrate synthesis and structural analysis have prevented access to synthetic carbohydrates capable of adopting defined geometries.
I propose the creation of carbohydrate foldamers capable of 1) adopting rigid secondary structures and 2) assembling into supramolecular architectures. To achieve these goals, we will address fundamental questions related to carbohydrate structure, design new methods to stabilize particular conformations, and we will implement protocols for systematic structural analysis. State-of-the-art synthetic platforms (i.e. automated glycan assembly) and analytical techniques (i.e. NMR spectroscopy, microED, and single molecule imaging) will be the tools to complete this ambitious project. My group has proved to be very successful at gaining a basic understanding of carbohydrate structure and aggregation. Building upon these preliminary results, I aim to develop programmable carbohydrate architectures, which have the potential to open a new field of carbohydrate and supramolecular chemistry.
Analogous to the birth of a new field after the discovery of peptide-based foldamers, carbohydrate foldamers could find applications in several areas, including material science, biology, and catalysis. Moreover, carbohydrate foldamers will expand our understanding of carbohydrate structures and interactions, and new analytical protocols will standardize the characterization of carbohydrate materials.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2022-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
80539 MUNCHEN
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.