Title: Mucinomics as the next frontier of mass spectrometry
Abstract:
Mucin-domain glycoproteins are densely O-glycosylated and play key roles in a host of biological functions. However, their dense O-glycosylation remains enigmatic both in glycoproteomic landscape and structural dynamics, primarily due to the challenges associated with studying mucin domains. Here, we present advances in the mass spectrometric analysis of mucins, including the characterization of mucinases, enrichment techniques, and complete mucinomic mapping of translationally relevant mucin proteins.
Bio:
Dr. Malaker is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Yale University. Her laboratory is focused on establishing methods and technology to study mucins, a class of densely O-glycosylated extracellular proteins, by MS. Additionally, the laboratory studies mucins in a biological context, since these proteins play integral, yet poorly understood, roles in numerous diseases. Prior to her appointment at Yale, she received her B.S. from the University of Michigan in Biochemistry and Anthropology-Zoology. Dr. Malaker then went on to receive her PhD in Chemistry from the University of Virginia in the laboratory of Professor Donald Hunt. She continued to investigate the role of aberrant glycosylation in cancer as an NIH postdoctoral fellow in Professor Carolyn Bertozzi’s laboratory at Stanford University before starting at Yale in 2021 and being promoted with tenure in 2026.
Keywords: Mass spectrometry, glycobiology, mucins, enzyme characterization, biochemistry