Glycosylation is a common posttranslational modification, in which a carbohydrate consisting of several sugar molecules, which is sometimes also referred to as a glycan is attached to a protein, lipid, or glycan substrate. Nearly 2% of the human genome encodes glycosyltransferases, glycosidases, or other glycan-modifying enzymes, and approximately half of all mammalian proteins are glycosylated, suggesting the importance of glycosylation in cellular function.

Glycans are formed by a set of competing glycosyl transferases. There are approximately 400 genes encoding glycosylation-related enzymes in mammalian cells. More than 130 subtypes of congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDGs) have been reported. Defects in glycosylation-related enzymes lead to the development of rare but severe diseases.

The glycan structures on glycoproteins expressed in the central nervous system (CNS) play key roles in regulating cellular recognition, adhesion, signal transduction and trafficking that are important for normal brain function. More importantly, differential glycan expression has been found at multiple stages of CNS cellular differentiation and in diseases and pathological conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia and brain cancer.

However, the roles of glycan structural alterations in glycoproteins and the functions of glycoproteins in different brain regions and variable cell types, including neurons and glia, have not yet been adequately addressed, particularly as they pertain to social behaviors and neuropsychiatric disorders closely related to abnormal social behaviors.

Therefore, my research group will focus on identification of the role of glycosylation in social behaviors and behaviors associated with neuropsychiatric disorders and other brain diseases and will also focus on investigation on diagnostic tools and therapeutic strategy through studies on physiological, biochemical and molecular mechanisms underlying altered protein glycosylation in different cell types including glia and neurons.

Major techniques that will be used in the conduct of research:

• Behaviors (mainly social behaviors and behaviors associated with neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism, depression, schizophrenia and PTSD)

• Western blot

• Immunohistochemistry

• Confocal imaging

• Single-cell RNA sequencing

• Real-time PCR

• Optogenetic and chemogenetic techniques

• Electrophysiology

• Glycomics and Glycoproteomics