Maia Evans

• CDT Doctoral Researcher (Aligned) Supervisor: Dr Tom McAllister
• Email: m.evans9@newcastle.ac.uk
• Project Title: Establishing a glyco-enzyme toolkit for designer glycoproteins

Institution: Newcastle University

Project summary: Glycans are integral to many biological processes such as sperm-egg fertilisation and the immune system as well as often being altered in diseases such as cancer. How glycans are added to proteins and the downstream impact of glycan composition and location is poorly understood. Our capability to dissect their roles in both fundamental biology and disease is hampered by a lack of technologies. Working with CASE partner Prozomix, leaders in biocatalysis enzyme discovery, the project aims to develop a suite of well-characterised biosynthetic enzymes to enable construction of glycoproteins in a defined, bespoke manner, creating an enabling technology for studying glycoprotein interactions avoiding the current complications of heterogeneity in natural glycoproteins.