Journal of Glycomics & Lipidomics
Open Access

Ahmed Faik

Biography

Endocrine Research at UCSD is particularly strong and includes basic translational and clinical research components.

Research Interest

Glycomics, genomics, and biochemistry approaches to study plant cell wall polysaccharide and proteoglycan metabolism. One of the most important differences between plant and animal cells is that plant cells have an extra-cellular structure called the cell wall that surrounds the protoplast. For plants, cell wall controls growth, morphogenesis, and interactions with the environment. For humans, cell wall polysaccharides and proteoglycans are important raw materials in the wood, paper, textile, fuel, and food industries. Thus, a good understanding of the biosynthesis of these macromolecules is a crucial step to improve plant development and production as a sustained source for our needs. The other area of research focuses on elucidating the role of the cross talk between the cell wall and the plasma membrane. This interaction can be crucial regulatory events for important physiological processes. We are interested in a subgroup of proteoglycans from plants called fasciclin-like arabinogalactan-proteins that are though to be involved in such interaction.