Abstract:
In the first section, my previous work regarding organic synthesis of inner-core oligosaccharides (OS) from lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) will be presented. LPSs are produced by gram-negative bacteria on their outer membrane. Recently, it has been reported that human antibodies recognize a core LPS-derived OS, so this core OS has become a focused target for vaccine development. Several glycosylations of 4, 5-branched core OS derivatives using a 3-dexoy-D-manno-oct-2-ulosonic acid (Kdo) disaccharide, Kdo(2-4)Kdo as the common acceptor were investigated. The reaction limitations of Kdo(2-4)Kdo are also discussed. The structures of the newly formed 4, 5-branched Kdo trisaccharides, tetrasaccharides, and pentasaccharides were elucidated and used in immunoassays.
In the second section, I will briefly discuss the work I hope to do at ELSI as part of the Hadean Bioscience group. I hope to explore how simple starting materials for life were made and complexified on the early Earth, topics of interest to prebiotic chemistry. In one part of this work, a range of samples will be examined to study radiation synthesis and degradation. The second project will examine the formation of dynamic combinatorial libraries from possibly prebiotic nucleotide analogues."