Glycobiology World Congress

Biography

Biography: Guijun Wang

Abstract

Glycolipids and glycoclusters that are able to form self-assembled supramolecular structures are interesting compounds with potential applications as new materials for biomedical research. Our group has a long interest in the design, synthesis and study of various monosaccharide derivatives and we have discovered several new classes of glycolipids based low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs). These compounds form unique soft materials such as organogels or hydrogels that may be useful in biomedical research. They can be used as advanced functional materials for controlled release drug delivery and enzyme immobilization. Using naproxen as a model, we have shown that acid sensitive glucosamine derivatives are effective compounds for controlled release of naproxen from the gel matrix. By incorporating photosensitive functional groups, we have also synthesized and characterized polymerizable diacetylene containing organogels. The resulting polydiacetylenes gels are useful as stimuli-responsive soft materials. Besides these systems, several branched molecules with sugar moieties at the periphery have also been designed and synthesized. These compounds have accurate molecular weight and can form interesting molecular assemblies. The dendritic glycolipids have shown enhanced self-assembling tendencies, which mimic the multivalency effect. In this presentation, our recent studies on glycolipids that can form supramolecular gels and self-assembling glycoconjugates will be discussed.