Self-organisation and barrier functions of the mammalian glycocalyx – Training glycoscientists across disciplines and borders to stimulate new approaches, understanding and biomedical applications

Virtually all mammalian cells are covered with a dense and complex coat of sugar chains (glycans) known as the glycocalyx, which is essential for multicellular life. Interfacing the cell surface with the cellular environment, glycocalyces accomplish critical functions in signalling and communication between cells, controlling tissue development, homeostasis and repair, inflammatory and immune responses, neuronal connectivity, and symbiosis with gastrointestinal bacteria. However, when dysregulated, they can promote immune diseases, neurodegeneration and cancer. While glycocalyces act as the first line of defence against pathogens, some pathogens have evolved to hijack the glycocalyx to promote infection. Despite their importance, mammalian glycocalyces remain the ‘dark matter’ of biology, under-studied owing to the historical lack of preparative and analytical tools to probe the local molecular composition and transient interactions of molecules within glycocalyces, and missing physics rules to interpret experimental observations. The GLYCOCALYX Doctoral Network will provide 15 doctoral candidates with training in bespoke physics, chemistry and biology methods – essential disciplines that will be integrated to enable us to resolve the dynamic organisation of glycocalyces, and how they perform the many selective barrier functions essential to multicellular life. We will develop chemical, analytical and computational TOOLS for glycocalyx research and use them to define physics and molecular RULES that underpin glycocalyx self-organisation and barrier functions. Practical scientific training in state-of-the-art research methods will be complemented by a coordinated programme of industry-relevant transferable skills tailored to prepare the doctoral candidates for future careers in the sector of medical technologies and its underpinning innovations.