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Part three
Vaccines and new carbohydrate-based drugs
- Studies of the polysaccharide coatings of various microbes may lead to new vaccines for
bacterial meningitis, strep B infection and pathogenic yeast infection caused by
Cryptococcus neoformans, which is a major cause of death in immuno-compromised patients.
- Other studies may lead to new diagnostic tests or medicines particularly for gonorrhea and the
bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which infects people with cystic fibrosis or who are
immuno-compromised, such as cancer and burn patients.
- New adjuvants — substances added to vaccines to stimulate the immune system — are being tested
in collaborative studies with UGA vet school scientists.
- Research on the identities and structures of polysaccharides from potential bioterrorism
agents such as anthrax will help scientists develop better vaccines and treatments.
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Other health-related topics
Other CCRC research focuses on:
- septic shock;
- immune responses;
- the mechanism of protein folding;
- type II diabetes;
- nervous system development;
- rheumatoid arthritis; and
- heparin synthesis.
Tools to study biologically important carbohydrates
- New methods using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) are being developed and will help advance
understanding of how cell surface carbohydrates interact with proteins.
- Computer simulations help uncover what happens when two molecules come in contact and may
guide design of vaccines and drugs.
- New methods in mass spectrometry are speeding up progress in studying diseases such as ovarian
cancer.
- New methods are being developed to synthesize biologically important oligosaccharides
(molecules made of a dozen or so sugar units).
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