PECASE Honoree Michael Boyce on Sugar ’ s Role in Cell Signaling and on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Scientific Workforce

Michael Boyce, associate professor of biochemistry at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Credit: Michael Boyce. Sugars aren’t merely energy sources for our cells. They also play important signaling roles through a process called glycosylation, where they attach to proteins and lipids as tags. Although these sugar tags, called glycans, impact many cellular processes, they have long been understudied due to technical challenges. Now, advances in analytical tools like mass spectrometry are enabling scientists to examine the enormous complexity of glycans. Other advances also allow researchers to synthesize complex sugars, providing them with standards for analytical experiments. Dr. Michael Boyce , an associate professor of biochemistry at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), has begun using these new tools to explore the fascinating role of sugars in signaling. “The attachment of sugars or sugar chains is the most abundant modification of proteins and lipids in all of nature,” says Boyce. “It impacts basically all cell biological processes.” In fact, abnormal glycosylation can be observed in almost all human diseases, including cancer, neurodegenerative conditions, and diabetes. Boyce’s lab focuses on glycosylation’s signaling role in such processes as cytoskeleton dynamics, protein stability, and vesicle trafficking,...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Being a Scientist Cellular Processes Glycobiology Proteins Source Type: blogs