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- 2023
- Audas Lab links the aggregation of pathological amyloids to a novel stress signaling pathway in recent Scientific Reports paper
- Beh lab shows how lipids regulate intracellular membrane contact in Journal of Biological Chemistry paper
- Congratulations to David Vocadlo: 2023 Distinguished SFU Professor
- Congratulations to Amy Lee: recipient of the 2023 Early Career Faculty Research Awards
- ILLUMINATING VIRAL PROTEIN SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON TREATMENT
- MBB researcher studying against the grain strategy to improve cancer treatment
- Congratulations to Dustin King, Amy Lee and David Vocadlo: recipients of New Frontiers in Research Fund
- SFU research aids fight against treatment-resistant superbugs
- Leroux lab Nature Communications paper identifies novel human disease gene linked to retinal degeneration, one of a growing number of genes associated with ciliary dysfunction (ciliopathies)
- Graduate student Minh Nguyen and his colleagues in the Craig lab reveal the mechanism of Type IV-pilus mediated bacterial secretion
- Global News BC: Dr. Fiona Brinkman Discusses How Scientists Track Mutations in the New Covid-19 Variants
- 2022
- Congratulations to Dr. Tim Audas on The Renewal of Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Cellular Stress
- $2 Million Gift From SFU Professors Emeriti Helps Seed New Ideas at SFU Science
- Learn more about Dr. King's new lab that focuses on natural ‘carbon capture’ solutions
- Congratulations to Dr. Amy Lee: The Recipient of The Banting Research Foundation's 2022 Discovery Award
- MBB Alumnus Profile: Meet Dr. Razvan Cojocaru, The Recipient of Governor General’s Gold Medal
- MBB Alumnus Profile: Meet Cory Macklin Who Overcame Challenges to Win Governor General's Silver Medal
- Congratulations to Dr. Razvan Cojocaru, the recipient of Dr. Bruce Brandhorst Prizes for Best Publication and Best PhD Thesis
- Meet Our Newest Faculty: Dr. Dustin King on His Exploration of Weaving Western Science with Indigenous Ways of Knowing
- Congratulations to our June 2022 Graduands
- Dr. Lynne Quarmby and Her Book "WaterMelon Snow: Science, Art, and a Lone Polar Bear" is Featured in SFU Knowledge Mobilizers Series
- Congratulations to our May 2022 Graduands
- Congratulations to Dr. Mani Larijani for Being Awarded a Prestigious New Frontiers in Research Fund Grant
- A New Paper from Beh Lab on ER-PM membrane contact site regulation by yeast ORPs and membrane stress pathways has been published in Plos Genetics Journal
- Dr. Lorena Braid is featured among new and renewed Canada Research Chairs
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David Vocadlo
Areas of interest
Organisms from all kingdoms of life use an array of specialized carbohydrate units to form glycans that modify proteins and other macromolecules. The presence of these glycans alters the biophysical properties of the resulting glycoconjugates and directs their cellular functions. Glycans are therefore emerging as central players that regulate diverse physiological processes within cells and organisms, ranging from inflammation through to development and ageing. Our interdisciplinary Laboratory of Chemical Glycobiology works at this frontier area of molecular biology. Members of the laboratory collaborate to address new problems in the area of glycobiology and come from various disciplinary backgrounds including, for example, biochemistry, chemistry, and cell biology. Working together, we develop and use new molecular imaging agents, inhibitors, and substrates to uncover the roles of glycoconjugates in cell and organismal physiology.
Specific current interests include the molecular basis by which O-GlcNAc contributes to the regulation of protein stability and gene expression as well as uncovering the protective role of this modification in neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer, Frontotemporal Dementia, and Peripheral Supranuclear Palsy. We have developed more recent interest in the functions of the glycoside hydrolase glucocerebrosidase, which has emerged recently as the greatest genetic risk factor for Parkinson Disease. Our research is both of fundamental interest, with a focus on improving our basic understanding of the roles of glycoconjugates in cell function, as well as having translational significance, with technology from our laboratory having driven compounds into the clinic.
Education
- Ph.D., Bioogranic Chemistry, University of British Columbia
- CIHR Postdoctoral Fellow - University of California, Berkeley
Selected Publications
- Zhu Y, Shan X, Safarpour F, Erro Go N, Li N, Shan A, Huang MC, Deen M, Holicek V, Ashmus R, Madden Z, Gorski S, Silverman MA, Vocadlo DJ*, Pharmacological inhibition of O-GlcNAcase (OGA) enhances autophagy in brain through an mTOR-independent pathway. ACS Chemical Neuroscience 2018, 9, 1366-1379.
- Liu T-W, Myschyshyn M, Sinclair DA, Cecioni S, Beja K, Honda BM, Morin RD, Vocadlo DJ* Genome-wide chemical mapping of O-GlcNAcylated proteins in Drosophila. Nature Chemical Biology, 2017, 13, 161-7.
- Cecioni S, Vocadlo DJ.* Carbohydrate bis-acetal-based substrates as tunable fluorescence-quenched probes for monitoring exo-glycosidase activity. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2017, 139, 8392-8395.
- Zhu, Y., Liu, T., Madden Z., Yuzwa, S.A., Murray, K., Cecioni, S., Zachara, N., Vocadlo, D.J.* Post-translational O-GlcNAcylation is essential for nuclear pore integrity and maintenance of the pore selectivity filter. Journal of Molecular Cell Biology 2016, 2-16.
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Courses
Future courses may be subject to change.