Regular biography
Laura L Kiessling is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on chemical biology, particularly the biological roles of carbohydrates. Her group uses synthetic chemistry and cell biology to study carbohydrate assembly, recognition, and function. They explore multivalent protein–carbohydrate interactions and their implications in physiological processes. The group also investigates carbohydrate polymer biosynthesis, with a focus on galactofuranose incorporation in mycobacteria, aiming to identify new drug targets for tuberculosis treatment. Additionally, they examine how carbohydrate polymers influence human embryonic stem cell pluripotency through surface-based signaling strategies.
Scholar-generated biography
Laura L. Kiessling is a researcher in Chemical Biology, Organic Chemistry, Glycobiology, Stem Cell Biology, and Immunology. Her work focuses on the development of synthetic multivalent ligands to study signal transduction and cell-surface interactions. She explores carbohydrate–aromatic interactions in proteins and the role of glycopolymers in biological processes. Her research also addresses the design of glycopolymer probes for stem cell biology and immunology, including applications in tumor cell targeting and maternal-fetal interface adhesion. Kiessling's studies utilize techniques such as surface plasmon resonance imaging to analyze protein-carbohydrate interactions and the effects of epitope density on multivalent binding.