Identification of glycosyltransferases and glycosydases responsible for the synthesis/degradation of mucin O-glycans at the human ocular surface epithelium

The major focus of Dr. Argueso's research is to characterize the carbohydrate portion of the different mucins expressed by the ocular surface epithelia as well as the enzymes involved with their synthesis, and to determine whether the alteration of mucin glycosylation is associated with ocular surface disease. Highly glycosylated mucins on the ocular surface (cornea and conjunctiva) are the first line of defense of the eye against injury and infection. Changes in O-glycosylation of mucins may cause ocular surface disorders, such as dry eye. Gene expression patterns in the conjunctival epithelium of three normal subjects were analyzed. The three subjects have the same ABO-blood-group. For each donor, conjunctival cells were obtained by impression cytology. Conjunctival impression cytology was performed on each eye two times with a one-week interval. Conjunctival cells obtained from each individual were pooled and the RNA isolated. All three samples were hybridized to the custom designed CFG GLYCOv2 glycogene array.