Tuning the Sugar Symphony: Modulation of Tissue Glycosylation in Central
Nervous System Disorders using Biomaterials
Most biological functions in the central nervous system occur through glycosylated
proteins and lipids, and alteration in glycosylation alters the structure and function of the
glycoproteins. This underlines the significance of glycans in both disease pathophysiology
and therapy. Defects in glycosylation are associated with several diseases and
abnormalities of the nervous system. However, the complexity of the nervous system,
intricacy of glycosylation, and limitations of the glyco-analytical platforms impede the
holistic investigation of glycan modulation in disease pathophysiology. To this end, this
talk will focus on the modulation of tissue glycome with aging, acute, and chronic CNS
disorders, and their modulation with biomaterial therapies. The talk will also cover the
application of multimodal glycan analysis platform for elaborate spatial analysis of tissue
glycans. Given the importance of glycosylation in biological interactions and function,
future biomaterial-based, glycan-targeted therapies can be designed to promote proregenerative
response in CNS disorders.
Juhi Samal is a postdoctoral researcher at the Segura Lab (https://seguralab.duke.edu/)
in the department of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University. Her research focusses
on the development of biomaterial-based interventions for central nervous system (CNS)
disorders with a special focus on tissue glycosylation in the CNS. Her research interests
are exploring the modulation of tissue glycosylation in acute and chronic CNS disorders
and developing biomaterial therapies to tune the glycan signature towards a proregenerative
response. She is recipient of numerous awards, including the Regeneration
Next Initiative postdoctoral fellowship, Julia Polak Award European Doctorate Award,
DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) Fellowship, and she has received
several awards for research dissemination and excellence at different conferences, at
both national and international levels. Juhi received her PhD from CÚRAM, National
University of Ireland Galway, where she was awarded Hardiman Fellowship for
conducting her doctoral research. Prior to that, she received her Bachelor’s (B.Tech)
degree in Biotechnology and her Master’s (M.Tech) in Biotechnology and Biochemical
Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, India.