Researcher:
Karen Abbott, postdoctoral research associate, Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens
Project:
Breast cancer biomarker discovery
Problem:
Abbott works with proteins whose glycosylation patterns differ in normal versus cancerous cells. She needed a method that could enrich and identify these glycoproteins.
Solution:
Breast cancer epithelial cells express higher levels of an enzyme that creates a specific sugar structure called beta-1,6-branched N-linked oligosaccharide. That modification is absent from normal breast epithelia. Says Abbott, "That means the glycosylation of the protein is the malignant marker, not the...
Interested in reading more?
Become a Member of
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
