Principal Investigator: Denong Wang, Ph.D.
Institution: SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute), Menlo Park, CA
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Publications
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Dr. Wang's long-term research interest is in the immunogenic sugar moieties that play key roles in the host recognition of complex carbohydrates and immune responses to carbohydrate antigens.
Dr. Wang's Alliance project extends to tumor glycomics with a current focus in exploration of glycan markers of prostate cancers and anti-glycan autoantibody signatures in prostate cancer patients. This is in partnership with Co-Investigator Ten Feizi at Imperial College London, UK. The Feizi group pioneered carbohydrate ligand discovery; the unique neoglycolipid technology coupled with mass spectrometry established by them was the basis of an advanced microarray system encompassing sequence-defined carbohydrate chains of glycoproteins and glycolipids. Among outputs are assignments of ligands for numerous endogenous carbohydrate recognition systems and those in pathogen host interactions including the oncogenic simian virus 40, SV40 and the pandemic H1N1 2009 influenza A virus.
The research team in the Alliance project is further strengthened by Stanford investigators with established research track records in prostate cancer, notably the establishment of the first international standard for detection of serum prostate-specific antigen and methodology for prostatic primary cultures; and in the development of flow cytometry (Hi-D FACS) for highly sensitive detection of cell and serum markers.
Key resources of the laboratory include large serum and tissue banks linked to extensive histopathologic and clinical databases with long follow up. Collaborating components of the team are: Denong Wang, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, SRI International; Leonard A. Herzenberg, Ph.D. and Leonore A. Herzenberg, Ph.D., Co-investigators, Stanford University (Biomarker Discovery); Ten Feizi, M.D., FmedSci., Co-Investigator, Imperial College London (Carbohydrate Analytics); Donna Peehl, Ph.D., Co-Investigator, Urology, Stanford University (Clinical Specimens); and Philip W. Lavori, Ph.D. Co-Investigator, Health Research and Policy, Biostatistics, Stanford University (Statistical Support).
Prior to joining the Alliance, Wang and his collaborators made considerable efforts to establish carbohydrate-based microarrays to facilitate identification and characterization of carbohydrate moieties of biomedical importance. His group published their first platform of carbohydrate microarrays in 2002. Subsequently, they developed technologies for construction of the epitope-specific glycan arrays. These include a method for photo-generation of oligosaccharide arrays and the most recent development of novel platforms of carbohydrate cluster microarrays. Their research activities using these technologies have led to the discovery of autoimmunogenic sugar moieties of SARS-CoV, a highly potent immunological target of Bacillus anthracis exosporium, and a number of cryptic glycan markers in human tumors.
In the Media:
"A Blood Test to Identify Aggressive Prostate Cancer" SRI Blog, May 8, 2013.
Patents:
Prostate cancer glycan markers and autoantibody signatures. Inventors: Wang, D., Herzenberg, L. A., Peehl, D., Herzenberg, L. A. (US 7,981,625) July 19, 2011.
Provisional application: Cryptic glycan markers and applications thereof. Inventors: Newsom-Davis, T.E., Wang, D., Steinman, L., and Screaton, G. R. Filed: January 12, 2009.
Provisional application: Glycan markers and autoantibody signatures in HIV-1 and HIV-1-associated malignancies. Inventors: Wang, D. and Herzenberg, L. A. (2010). Filed: January 19, 2010