RESEARCH INTERESTS
Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans: Biosynthesis, Structures and Functions
In the post-genomics era, it is now accepted that complex glycoconjugates such as proteoglycan regulate numerous patho-physiological processes in all living species. They carry enormous structural information in terms of sulfation, epimerization, domain organization, chain length, number of chains and type of chains along with their core proteins. Production of proteoglycans with such high complexity occurs in template-independent fashion seamlessly, yet our understanding of their biosynthesis, structures and functions is somewhat incomplete and imperfect. We are developing a wide variety of chemical biology tools to define the biosynthetic pathways of heparan sulfate and related glycosaminoglycans (GAG) such as chondroitin sulfate and dermatan sulfate.
We synthesize heparin and heparan sulfate structures with a dozen recombinant enzymes to define the structural basis for the interactions of growth factors and Heparan sulfates and the subsequent biological actions. We recently found that a library of click-xylosides produce distinct GAG chains in cellular systems and proposed a GAGOSOME model for the dynamic regulation of combinatorial GAG biosynthesis. These molecular tools are currently used in the lab to define the snap shots of biosynthetic events and signaling events that are associated with development and diseases with a final goal to advance the study of heparanomics.
LAB INFORMATION
KUBY LAB 2024
KUBY LAB 2023
KUBY LAB 2019
KUBY LAB 2016
RESEARCH GROUP MEMBERS
Kuberan Balagurunathan, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
OPPORTUNITIES
Please email Dr. Kuberan Balagurunathan for inquiries or information.
Education History
| Postdoctoral Training |
MIT |
Post-Doctoral Training |
|---|---|---|
| Doctoral Training |
University of Iowa |
PhD |
| Graduate Training |
Indian Institute of Technology Madras |
MS |
Selected Publications
Journal Article
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Differential effects of Heparitinase I and Heparitinase III on endothelial tube formation in vitro. Raman K, Kuberan B. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2010 Jul 23;398(2):191-3. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2010.06.055. Epub 2010 Jun 17. PMID: 20599743.
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Applications of isotopes in advancing structural and functional heparanomics.
Tran VM, Nguyen TK, Raman K, Kuberan B. Anal Bioanal Chem. 2011 Jan;399(2):559-70. doi: 10.1007/s00216-010-4166-x. Epub 2010 Sep 14. PMID: 20838780 Free PMC article. -
Discovery of novel sulfonated small molecules that inhibit vascular tube formation.
Raman K, Karuturi R, Swarup VP, Desai UR, Kuberan B. Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2012 Jul 1;22(13):4467-70. doi: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2012.04.014. Epub 2012 Apr 16. PMID: 22627041.
Book Chapter
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"New Approaches to Study Structures of Heparan Sulfate Polysaccharides", Balagurunathan Kuberan, Miroslaw Lech, Robert D. Rosenberg, in Polysaccharides: Structural Diversity and Functional Versatility, 2nd Edition, S. Dumitriu, Ed., Marcel Dekker, New York, 2004
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"Mechanism of Heparan Sulfate Biosynthesis" Balagurunathan Kuberan, Robert D. Rosenberg, in Polysaccharides: Structural Diversity and Functional Versatility, 2nd Edition, S. Dumitriu, Ed., Marcel Dekker, New York, 2004
Patent
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"Metabolic engineering of non-pathogenic escherichia coli strains for the controlled production of low molecular weight heparosan and size-specific heparosan oligosaccharides", U.S Patent Pending, 2020
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“Methods for Synthesis of Sulfated Saccharides” B. Kuberan, R. D. Rosenberg, U.S. Patent # US 7, 655, 445 B2, 2010
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“Synthesis of Novel Xylosides and their potential uses thereof”, B. Kuberan, M. Ethirajan, X. Victor, V. Tran, K. Nguyen, U.S. Patent Pending, 2007
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“Rapid Two Step Synthesis of Anticoagulants”, B. Kuberan, R. D. Rosenberg, U.S. Patent Pending, 2002
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“Methods for Synthesizing Polysaccharides”, B. Kuberan, R. D. Rosenberg, US Patent Pending, 2002
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“A Method for Obtaining Equilibrated Anomeric Mixture of Sugars Using Non-Aqueous Media”, D. Loganathan, S. S. Allavudeen, B. Kuberan, Indian Patent # 2430 / MAS / 98