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Learn more about Glycobiology

Glycobiology is a scientific discipline that intersects with many other areas of biological and chemical sciences. The scientific landscape of glycobiology is rapidly evolving, as its tools become more accessible and research interest grows.

To support information-sharing in this scientific space, as well as to provide a starting place for getting up to speed on glycobiology, we have assembled these resources.

Hear from the Experts

Learn more about our science directly from Palleon’s Co-Founder and Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi, Scientific Advisor James Paulson, and Palleon CMO David Feltquate.

Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi discusses the science of glyco-immunology with Brad Loncar

Dr. Bertozzi discusses the invention of bioorthogonal chemistry as well as the field of glycobiology, describing how certain types of cell surface glycans play an important role in immune modulation in cancer and how Palleon is working to create medicines that will disrupt immunosuppression caused by these "sugars."

Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2022: Nobel Prize Lecture

Carolyn Bertozzi discusses the discovery of bioorthogonal chemistry, the innovation that led her to win the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which enabled foundational discoveries in glycobiology and supported Palleon’s pioneering of a new area of drug development.

SciMed Biotech Podcast with David Feltquate of Palleon Pharmaceuticals

Palleon's Chief Medical Officer David Feltquate speaks on the SciMed Biotech Podcast to discuss the power of glyco-immune checkpoints in treating cancer.

Targeting Sugars that Let Cancers Evade the Immune System

Palleon CMO David Feltquate discusses our glyco-immunology platform and its potential to treat cancer and inflammatory disease.

Leading a New Approach in Immuno-oncology

Palleon Co-founder Carolyn Bertozzi discusses the fundamentals of what glyco-immune checkpoints are and why they’re essential to immuno-oncology.

Sialoglycan-Mediated Immune Regulation: Glycobiology Meets Immuno-Oncology

At this mini-symposium Palleon Chief Medical Officer David Feltquate, Co-Founder Carolyn Bertozzi, and Scientific Advisor James Paulson discuss recent discoveries that highlight the connection between glycoscience and immuno-oncology.

TED Talk: What the sugar coating on your cells is trying to tell you

Palleon Co-founder Carolyn Bertozzi talks about how sugars on cancerous cells interact with (and sometimes trick) your immune system.

Stripping the Sugar Coating Off Cancer

Carolyn Bertozzi explains the presence of sialic acid sugar coatings on cancer cells and how stripping them can help immune cells better identify cancer for destruction.

A Rockstar Chemist and Her Cancer-Attacking “Lawn Mower”

Palleon co-founder Carolyn Bertozzi speaks on The People I (Mostly) Admire podcast about the next generation of immune therapy, glyco-immunology.

Essential Reading

Understanding the science and the potential therapeutic promise of glycobiology.

Essentials of Glycobiology

Essentials of GlycobiologyNational Library of Medicine
The fourth edition of this primary textbook provides a basic overview of the field of glycobiology.

Scientific Literature

A selection of key publications in glycobiology.

Targeting cancer glycosylation repolarizes tumor-associated macrophages allowing effective immune checkpoint blockade

Michael Stanczak, Heinz Laubli, and Palleon scientists demonstrated that removal of sialic acid ligands in the tumor microenvironment using an enzyme-antibody conjugate repolarized tumor-associated macrophages, enhancing antitumor immunity. Palleon’s bacterial sialidase EAGLE molecules (E-301) were used in all studies described in this paper.

DOI #: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abj1270

Targeted glycan degradation potentiates the anticancer immune response in vivo

Carolyn Bertozzi and colleagues designed a bacterial sialidase and anti-HER2 antibody conjugate that strips sialoglycans from breast cancer cells. In a mouse model, they showed that desialylation enhanced immune cell infiltration and activation and prolonged the survival of the mice.

DOI #: 10.1038/s41589-020-0622-x

Siglecs as immune-cell checkpoints in disease

This review article authored by Jim Paulson and Shiteng Duan discusses the importance of the Siglec family in immune cell signaling and approaches to targeting the Siglecs for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases.

DOI #: 10.1146/annurev-immunol-102419-035900

Sialic acid ligands of CD28 block co-stimulation of T cells

Published in 2021, Jim Paulson demonstrated that sialic acid on T cells can function as a ligand that blocks CD28-mediated co-stimulation of T cells. This suggests that the upregulation of sialoglycans on T cells may contribute to T cell exhaustion.

DOI #: 10.1101/2021.02.22.432333

Precision glycocalyx editing as a strategy for cancer immunotherapy

Carolyn Bertozzi and Han Xiao developed a bacterial sialidase and anti-HER2 antibody conjugate that was shown to enhance tumor cell susceptibility to antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) by selectively desialylating tumor cells, even those expressing only moderate levels of HER2.

DOI #: 10.1073/pnas.1608069113

Palleon Publications

Recommended Follows

Scientific and biomedical dialogue in glycobiology and in immuno-oncology is growing every day. These organizations are good resources to learn more about these fields: