Consortium for Functional Glycomics

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Consortium for Functional Glycomics

Formation	2001
Purpose	to define paradigms by which protein-carbohydrate interactions mediate cell communication
Headquarters	The Scripps Research Institute
Membership	open to any investigator conducting grant-funded research on glycan-binding proteins or their ligands
Principal Investigator	James Paulson, Ph.D.
Budget	funded by a 10-year glue grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Website	http://www.functionalglycomics.org

The Consortium for Functional Glycomics (CFG) is a large research initiative funded in 2001 by a glue grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) to “define paradigms by which protein-carbohydrate interactions mediate cell communication”.^[1] To achieve this goal, the CFG studies the functions of:

• the three major classes of mammalian glycan-binding proteins (GBPs): C-type lectin, galectin, and SIGLEC
• immune receptors that bind carbohydrates: CD1, T cell receptor, and anti-carbohydrate antibodies
• GBPs of microorganisms that bind to host cell glycans as receptors.

The CFG comprises eight core facilities and 500+ participating investigators that work together to develop resources and services and make them available to the scientific community free of charge. The data generated by these resources are captured in databases accessible through the Functional Glycomics Gateway, a web resource maintained through a partnership between the CFG and Nature Publishing Group.