Glycans are a type of carbohydrate often described as ‘the dark matter of biology’ because they are very diverse, dynamic and yet still poorly understood. They play an important role in everything from the selection of which sperm cell fuses with the egg cell to how active our immune system is and how likely we are to get sick.
Glycans as biomarkers
Daniel Bojar has discovered that the structure of glycans changes in the event of illness, and his research has focused on identifying diseases by using glycans as biomarkers. In the future, a small amount of saliva could be enough to detect cancer in a person. Until recently, glycans were generally thought to only exist on different surfaces in the body, like a sugary forest on cell surfaces or on proteins in our blood.
But Daniel Bojar's research team wasn't really satisfied with that assumption. Their curiosity got the better of them, and now the team has made a breakthrough in research on these complex sugars.
Re-evaluation needed
“We spotted all these inconsistencies in the research literature that pointed to the presence of glycans in the cell nucleus. We investigated the matter, somewhat on the side, without devoting any significant resources to it. The more we tested, the more convinced we became that this was the case,” says Daniel Bojar.
The findings totally break with current textbook knowledge and require a re-evaluation of how these sugar molecules are formed, transported and used by our cells. Daniel Bojar also sees signs that these cell nucleus glycans change in diseases such as cancer and therefore wants to find out if this could be therapeutically relevant. Daniel Bojar therefore applied to the ERC to map nuclear glycans as a new class of molecules. He hopes to reveal how these new sugars are formed and transported into the nucleus, as well as to understand the role they play in health and disease.
New subfield
And now it's official: Daniel Bojar has been awarded €1.5 million, approximately SEK 16.7 million, over five years from the European Research Council (ERC). The University of Gothenburg is contributing SEK 3.75 million to the new research project.
"Receiving an ERC Starting Grant for this project is fantastic. Without it, the project would not have been possible, as it requires significant resources to develop this new subfield of nuclear glycobiology,” says Daniel Bojar.
Daniel Bojar will be able to expand his team and build a larger research group. He estimates that the grant will be sufficient for two research positions and two doctoral positions. He believes that the ERC plays an important role, as it can otherwise be difficult to obtain funding for a research project that challenges existing theories about the role and function of glycans in our bodies.
New AI models
The mapping will be done using mass spectrometry on the glycans in the cell nucleus. The data will be analysed using AI models developed by Daniel Bojar's research group to handle large amounts of data in a short time. New methods will also be developed to explore this still unknown area of cell structure.
“This grant is also an important step for me in my efforts to establish myself in the research community. It can be daunting to ‘go against the grain’ as a young researcher,” says Daniel Bojar.
Research Leader of the Future
In addition to the grant from the ERC, Daniel Bojar will have even more resources to develop his research. In June, he was also one of 16 researchers in Sweden named Research Leader of the Future by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research. The recipients will receive a grant of SEK 15 million each over a five-year period and will also undergo thorough leadership training. Daniel was the only person from the University of Gothenburg to be awarded this grant in this call for proposals. He will also receive an additional SEK 3.75 million in support from the university.
“The money means that I can hire two more doctoral students and two postdocs for my group. The goal is to build a really solid foundation for AI-driven research in glycobiology, which can lead to improved diagnostics and methods for finding glycans in breast milk that are linked to the immune system,” says Daniel Bojar.
He is also looking forward to getting to know the other 15 researchers who will also undergo leadership training.
“It will be a new network and support within the cohort that I value greatly.”
Contact: Daniel Bojar, Senior Lecturer of Bioinformatics at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Gothenburg, telephone: +46 (0)72-209 98 22, email: daniel.bojar@gu.se
