The goal of the Consortium for Functional Glycomics is to define paradigms by which protein-carbohydrate interactions mediate cell communication. Our progress against this goal can now be tracked using the community-built Paradigm Pages.
Thirty exemplary 'paradigm' GBPs have been selected that together cover the scope of biological functions mediated by 9 GBP families studied by the CFG. The wiki-based Paradigm Pages allow CFG investigators to upload and edit detailed information about our progress in understanding these paradigms, with a specific focus on how CFG resources have contributed to progress. The Paradigm Pages, which are open for viewing by the public, offer an in-depth look at a representative range of GBPs from mammalian and microbial sources, and provide a powerful tool for tracking our advances in the final year of glue grant funding and beyond.
A meeting of CFG Participating Investigators and Subgroup Leaders will take place on November 7, 2010 in St. Petersburg, FL (USA) as a satellite to the annual meeting of the Society for Glycobiology. The CFG PI meeting will focus on 'Glycans in cell communication' and will cover a broad range of topics including host-pathogen interactions, functions of mammalian glycan-binding proteins, analytical glycomics, and glycoinformatics. The program includes a workshop, a poster session, and subgroup breakout sessions in the afternoon.
See the meeting website for more information.
PARTICIPATING INVESTIGATORS MEETING JUNE 16-18, 2011 IN BETHESDA, MARYLAND
The final meeting of CFG PIs under NIGMS glue grant funding will take place on the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD (USA) on June 16-18, 2011. More information will be available soon.
CFG subgroups have held several recent workshops on topics including 'Leveraging glycan array screens with biological, computational and structural data,' 'Recognition of host and pathogen glycans by mammalian GBPs,' and 'Mammalian GBPs in the immune system.' Summaries and detailed workshop reports can be found on the subgroup activities page, which also offers information on upcoming workshops, subgroup resource needs, milestones, and progress reports.
The next subgroup workshop, which is focused on the glycan array and bioinformatics, will be held in Atlanta, GA (USA) on September 19-23, 2010.
Participating Investigators are invited to join their subgroups in discussion forums at Nature Network, the online networking site
created by Nature Publishing Group. Choose your subgroup(s) from the list at: http://network.nature.com/group/cfg.
Personnel from the laboratories of CFG Participating Investigators are encouraged to take part in the forums by forming an additional profile for the entire lab and identifying themselves when they post.
INPUT NEEDED FROM PARTICIPATING INVESTIGATORS
The CFG would appreciate feedback and/or suggestions from our Participating Investigators on the following topics:
Synthesis of compounds for mammalian glycan array library, and N-linked and O-linked glycan standards for synthesis (Core D)
From 2001-2009, Core F generated 26 knockout and conditional knockout mouse lines deficient in glycan-binding proteins or glycosyltransferases. Each of these glycogene targets were specifically chosen by the CFG Mouse Committee and approved by the Steering Committee for their impact on the CFG's overall goal. However, due to overlap with the NIH's Knockout Mouse Project (KOMP), production of novel mouse strains by the CFG was discontinued as of November 1, 2009 by NIGMS mandate.
All existing knockout mouse lines created by Core F have now been transferred to and can be requested from the Mutant Mouse Regional Resource Center (MMRRC) at the University of California, Davis. Some additional Core F targets are also available at the DNA construct, chimera, or embryonic stem cell stage for investigators who wish to complete them in their own labs. For more information on where to find Core F-generated mouse lines, other glycogene knockout lines, and related reagents, visit the
Core F resource page.
This page hosts a tabular Mouse Resource Locator that lists available strains and other reagents, with links to commercial sources and investigators willing to provide living breeding pairs. If you maintain mouse strains of interest to the glycomics community that you would be willing to provide to other investigators, please contact Anna Crie to update the Mouse Resource Locator with your information.
Consortium data is accessible from the databases, with enhanced presentation interfaces for access to raw data and information on experiments, protocols, and samples.
With more than 250 participants, the response was overwhelming. CFG received extremely valuable feedback and suggestions that will help guide the direction of the CFG over the next three years.
To view the full results of the survey please click here.
'ASSOCIATED REQUESTS/DATA' LINK ADDED TO PARTICIPATING INVESTIGATORS PAGE
The Participating Investigator page has been enhanced by the addition of an 'Associated Requests/Data' link next to each investigator's name. Clicking this link displays that investigator's resource requests, plus any gene microarray or glycan array data posted in the database resulting from those requests.
