Glycoimmunology

The Jenner International Glycoimmunology Meetings have charted the rapid devel opment of glycobiology within the field of inflammation. In less than a decade, the science has grown from basically being involved in carbohydrate analysis to the understanding of how sugars are associated with inflammation and how they have potential as anti inflammatory therapeutics. The 4th Jenner International Glycoimmunology Meeting was re cently held in Loutraki, Greece, and set the scene for what promises to be an exciting future for the speciality. Discussion reflected the rapid advances glycobiology is making and ranged from the basic biochemistry of carbohydrate physiology to therapeutic trials utilizing synthetic sugars designed to block inflammatory responses. The meeting is summarized in considerable detail in this book which will provide the interested scientist and clinician with the essential up-to-date facts within the field of glyco immunology. Acknowledgments Many people have been involved in ensuring the success of the Jenner Glycoimmu nology Meetings but none more so than my secretary Susan Henderson who has borne the brunt of all four meetings and is currently preparing for the 5th.

Proceedings of the Third Jenner International Glycoimmunology meeting held in Il Ciocco, Tuscany, Italy, October 11-14, 1994

Sugar chains (glycans) are often attached to proteins and lipids and have multiple roles in the organization and function of all organisms. "Essentials of Glycobiology" describes their biogenesis and function and offers a useful gateway to the understanding of glycans.

The potential for glycobiology to improve the practice of medicine has been well recognised, which is why biannual meetings concerning the association have been taking place for the last 14 years. The science of glycobiology has matured rapidly, and with it the far reaching clinical implications are becoming understood. The next decade is going to see this final frontier of science conquered. The impact this understanding of glycobiology will have upon our practice of medicine is going to be exciting. The 7th Jenner Glycobiology and Medicine Symposium was designed to reflect these advances. All the major clinical areas were involved, with contributions from pivotal players in science and medicine.

The aim of the book is to provide a succinct overview of the current status of glycoscience from both basic biological and medical points of view and to propose future directions, in order to facilitate further integrations of glycoscience with other fields in biological and medical studies. Glycans (carbohydrate oligomers) are the so-called “building blocks” of carbohydrates, nucleic acids, proteins and lipids and play major roles in many biological phenomena as well as in various pathophysiological processes. However, this area of glycoscience has been neglected from the research community because glycan structures are very complex and functionally diverse and as compared to proteins and nucleic acids simple tools for the amplification, sequencing and auto-synthesis of glycans are not available. Many scientists in other fields of research have now realized that glycosylation, i.e. the addition of glycans to a protein backbone, is the most abundant post translational modification reactions and is an important field of research and sometimes they require a glycobiology and/or glycochemistry approach to be used. It is still difficult, however, for non-expert researchers to use these techniques. This book provides numerous but simple overviews of current topics and protocols for the experiments. The book is aimed at university students and above, including non-experts in the field of glycoscience.