Professor Laura Kiessling

Professor Laura Kiessling
Department of Chemistry
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Multivalent Probes of Protein-Glycan Interactions

Glycan-binding proteins coordinate essential biological functions through multivalent recognition, but the basic principles behind these interactions are not fully understood. This presentation explores how synthetic polymers can serve as tunable platforms for decoding and recapitulating multivalent protein- glycan interactions. By systematically varying glycan density, spacing, and presentation on polymer scaffolds, we dissect the mechanistic underpinnings of avidity and specific biological recognition. We have leveraged these insights to design polymeric systems that mimic key features of mucins, the proteins that constitute our protective mucus. These synthetic glycopolymers also serve as multivalent signaling agents, engaging multiple receptors at once to enhance cellular responses with high specificity. This seminar will highlight how chemical synthesis and polymers can be used to investigate and harness nature’s multivalent recognition strategies.

Laura Kiessling

Laura Kiessling earned a BS in Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Yale University. After two years at the California Institute of Technology as an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow, she joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1991. In 2017, she returned to MIT as the Novartis Professor of Chemistry and Member of the Broad Institute. She is also a Member of the Koch Institute and an Associate Member of the Ragon Institute. Her interdisciplinary research interests have advanced our understanding of cell surface recognition processes, especially those involving protein-glycan interactions. Laura is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a Member of the American Academy of Microbiology, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Medicine. She was the founding Editor–In-Chief of ACS Chemical Biology. Her honors and awards include a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the ACS Gibbs Medal, the Tetrahedron Prize, the Centenary Prize of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Ronald Breslow Award for Achievement in Biomimetic Chemistry.

Hosted by Professor Erin Carlson and Professor Theresa Reineke