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UGA dedicates new Complex Carbohydrate Research Center
WRITER: Kim Cretors, 706/542-6927, kcretors@uga.edu
CONTACT: Alan Darvill or Peter Albersheim, 706/542-4401
Feb 11, 2004, 10:09
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Facility brings in $6.8 million in annual research funding
ATHENS, Ga. –The University of Georgia’s new Complex Carbohydrate Research Center officially opened this morning with a dedication ceremony at the new facility, which is located at 315 Riverbend Road.
Speakers at the event included UGA President Michael F. Adams, center co-directors Peter Albersheim and Alan Darvill, graduate student James Atwood, UGA Real Estate President Jo Ann Chitty and Thomas G. Cousins, chair of Cousins Properties in Atlanta and former chair of the UGA Foundation, who told the audience of more than 200 that the CCRC has brought $90 million in research funding to the state since relocating here in the 1980s.
A dedication colloquium, designed for a general audience, follows this afternoon from 3 to 5 p.m.
The center’s mission is to develop new methods to study complex carbohydrates as well as study the role of these molecules in plant growth and in human diseases, such as cancer, type II diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.
Following are some facts about the CCRC. For additional information on the CCRC, visit the center’s Web site at www.ccrc.uga.edu or contact one of the center’s co-directors, Alan Darvill or Peter Albersheim, at 706/542-4401.
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UGA COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATE RESEARCH CENTER
FACT SHEET
* The Complex Carbohydrate Research Center (CCRC) was founded at UGA in September 1985 as a center devoted to increasing knowledge of the structures and functions of complex carbohydrates.
* CCRC researchers develop new methods to study complex carbohydrates as well as study the role of these molecules in plant growth and in human diseases such as cancer, type II diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.
* The center is one of only three such centers devoted exclusive to complex carbohydrate research throughout the world.
* The new facility is more than 135,000 sq. ft. and is located at 315 Riverbend Parkway adjacent to the Oconee River. This is the third expansion for the center since moving into its former location in 1989.
* This is the first large-scale research building to be funded by the UGA Real Estate Foundation and is a focal development within the Riverbend Research Village at UGA.
* The new facility includes a regional high-field NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) center supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA).
* The CCRC has about 160 faculty, staff, postdoctoral research associates and graduate and undergraduate students. The international and collaborative nature of glycoscience is reflected in the make-up of the CCRC’s personnel, who currently come from 21 countries.
* The center’s 15 interdisciplinary research groups are led by 15 tenure-track faculty members.
* Alan Darvill and Peter Albersheim serve as co-directors of the center.
* CCRC personnel are presently engaged in approximately 100 collaborations with scientists at universities and corporations in Georgia, the United States, North and South America, Europe and Asia.
* CCRC is the home of three federally designated centers for carbohydrate research: the Department of Energy (DOE)-funded Center for Plant and Microbial Complex Carbohydrates, the NIH Research Resource for Integrated Glycotechnology, and the NIH Resource for Biomedical Glycomics.
* CCRC faculty members hold joint appointments in the departments of biochemistry and molecular biology, chemistry, plant biology and plant pathology.
* Funding for the CCRC is provided by the GRA, NIH, U.S. DOE, National Science Foundation (NSF) and other industrial nonprofit sources.
* The center is supported by federal, state, industrial, and foundation funds and brings in around $6.8 million annually in research funds.
* The new CCRC facility includes:
+ Medical Glycoscience Labs: Fermentation and cell culture rooms with support, a confocal microscope and fluorescent-activated cell sorter suite, conference rooms, and faculty and research offices.
+ Plant Sciences Labs: Plant growth and culture rooms, plant tissue culture labs, research laboratories, and faculty and research offices.
+ Analytical Methods Development Labs: The analytical area contains the NMR spectrometer suite, mass spectrometer suite, computational modeling center, and facilities for instrument maintenance.
+ Analytical Service and Training Lab: Laboratories to provide in-house and external analytical services, teaching laboratories, and an auditorium seating approximately 260 persons.
+ Administration Facility: The administration area provides for offices and office support, conferencing, and a library.
* Understanding the roles of carbohydrates in the folding and function of proteins may lead to the design of potentially powerful treatments for some human genetic diseases. Normally, proteins are long, precisely folded chain-molecules assembled from 20 different amino acid building blocks. Correct folding of proteins is essential for them to perform their biological functions. Attachment of carbohydrates to proteins aids in their correct folding as well as in the destruction of defective proteins.
* Abnormal attachment of sugars to proteins may lead to type II diabetes. Type II diabetes has reached epidemic proportions in Georgia. Insulin resistance is the primary diagnostic of type II diabetes. Insulin resistance can result from the abnormal attachment of sugars to the proteins of a patient’s cells. Understanding how abnormal sugar attachment results in insulin resistance and studies of the enzymes that facilitate the attachment and removal of the sugars from the proteins will lead to the development of new medicines to fight this deadly disease.
* Understanding the role of complex carbohydrates in nervous system development may provide new targets for treating spinal cord and brain injury, degenerative neural disorders and brain tumors. Human beings perceive and interact with their world through the intricate interconnections that link the many parts of the brain, and complex carbohydrates regulate the specificity and stability of brain wiring.
* Carbohydrates, bacterial pathogens and bioterrorism. Bacterial pathogens, including those that pose a bioterrorism threat, are surrounded by carbohydrates that protect bacteria from being recognized as enemies by their potential victims. The carbohydrates form a defensive wall, or disguise the pathogen so that it becomes a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Carbohydrates can be used to identify and possibly protect against and defeat these pathogens.
* Complex carbohydrate research, or “glycobiology,” is leading to new diagnostic tests and treatments for cancer. When healthy cells become transformed into cancer cells, the patterns of sugars attached to their cell surfaces are altered. Changes in these cells can increase cell invasiveness and metastasis. A detailed understanding of such changes is leading to the development of new diagnostic tests and potential treatments for several types of cancer.
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