Yu-Teh Li, PhD

Research Interests:
Glycobiology – Biomedically useful glycosidases and biochemical basis of inborn lysosomal diseases

Y.-T. Li and his wife, S.-C. Li, have been working as a team in the field of glycobiology for over three decades. The two major projects of their laboratory are: (i) biochemical studies of inborn lysosomal diseases and (ii) studies of biomedically useful glycosidases. S.-C. Li is in charge of the first project (i) and Y.-T. Li is responsible for the second project (ii).

The long-standing interests of the biomedically useful glycosidases project in the Li's laboratory have been centered on the identification, isolation, cloning and characterization of unique and biomedically useful glycosidases, and to make them available to other investigators. They have discovered several useful glycosidases and have contributed richly to the use of glycosidases to study the structure, function and catabolism of glycoconjugates. Their laboratory was the first to use jack bean alpha-mannosidase to show the presence of alpha-mannosidic linkage in glycoproteins (J. Biol. Chem. 241, 1010, '66). Several commercially available glycosidases were developed based on the methods established in their laboratory. Their representative glycoconjugate-cleaving enzymes include: jack bean beta-hexosaminidase (J. Biol. 245, 5153, '70); pineapple alpha- and beta-mannosidases (J. Biol. 247, 3677, '72); jack bean beta-galactosidae (J. Biol. 250, 6786, '75); limpet alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (J. Biol. 252, 5194, '77); Escherichia freundii endo-beta-galactosidase (J. Biol. 255, 5955, '80); ceramide glycanase that cleaves the linkage between the ceramide and the glycane chain in glycosphingolipids (J. Biol. 264, 12272, '89); NeuAc-alpha-2,3-Gal-specific sialidase (J. Biol. Chem. 271, 19219, '96); alpha-KDOase (J. Biol. Chem. 272, 26419, '97); alpha-KDN-sialidases (J. Biol. Chem. 274, 31974, '99); an endo-beta-galactosidase that liberates the disaccharide GlcNAc-alpha-1,4-Gal from glycans specifically expressed in gastric gland mucous cell-type mucin (J. Biol. Chem. 276, 28226 '01, Biochemistry 41, 2388, '02); an endo-beta-galactosidase that cleaves both blood group A and B glycotopes (J. Biol. Chem. 280, 7720, '05). They have been supported by the same grant from the NIH for 36 years. Y.-T. Li was a twice recipient of the Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award from the NIH.

Tulane Cancer Center

Dr. Li's research interests have been centered on glycobiology and glycopathology. Through the study of glycosidases and glycoconjugates, he has made several important contributions to the field of inborn lysosomal diseases. He has also studied glycosidases and glycoconjugates associated with neoplasia. His laboratory has been supported by the same R01 grant from the NIH for the past 36 years and has received two Merit Awards (Jarvitz Neuroscience Investigator Awards).