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What is the Consortium for Functional Glycomics (CFG)? The Consortium for Functional Glycomics (CFG) is a large international research initiative that works with and serves the scientific community. Its mission is to provide a networking forum and glycomics resources which enable investigators to reveal functions of glycans and glycan-binding proteins that impact human health and disease. The CFG offers glycan microarray screening services, a reagent bank, and free access to its extensive data repositories and molecule databases. 
Back to top How is the CFG funded? The CFG was founded in 2001 by a 10-year Glue Grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) at the NIH. Glue Grants were initiated to 'make resources available for currently funded scientists to form research teams to tackle complex problems that are of central importance to biomedical science and to the mission of NIGMS, but that are beyond the means of any one research group.'
Back to top How do I join the CFG? Application can be completed online. Participating Investigators are required to have ongoing research, funded by non-CFG sources, which is within the scope of the program. However, membership is not required for the receipt of CFG resources and services.
Back to top What is the CFG's data sharing policy? Open communication and sharing of data, research materials, and technology among program participants and the public is a major commitment of the CFG. Your institution must endorse this agreement in order to complete the application process. The policy stipulates that data generated by CFG-funded Scientific Cores are input directly into the CFG databases. As soon as they are deposited, the data are viewable to other CFG Participating Investigators with a login and password. The data are made public six weeks later. Data generated in each investigator's laboratory using CFG resources are treated differently. Data is to be deposited to the databases quarterly as finalized. They are viewable immediately by PIs whose institutions have agreed to the data sharing policy. However, the data is not made public until published or presented at a meeting. In the event that the use of resources results in inventions, the institutions agree to work collaboratively to file patent applications.
Back to top How do I retrieve my login and password? Please visit Request Login Password complete the needed information and your login information will be sent to you by email. Back to top What nomenclature does the CFG use for carbohydrates? The CFG's Nomenclature Subcommittee evaluated widely used symbol nomenclatures and consulted with a variety of interested parties. As a result, the committee selected a version originally put forth by Stuart Kornfeld, later adapted by the editors of the textbook 'Essentials of Glycobiology' (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press), and further modified it to fit CFG needs.
Back to top How do I acknowledge the CFG and/or its resources in a publication? When publishing results that involved CFG resources, services, funding, or other contributions, it is the responsibility of individual investigators to extend co-authorship to Core personnel or to acknowledge the CFG in the publication. If an investigator's lab conducts joint experiments with a Core, it should be assumed that the experiments are being done collaboratively unless otherwise agreed with the Core Director to be an established protocol of the Core. When publications are planned involving resources from or collaborations with a Scientific Core, the investigator is responsible for determining (at the earliest possible stage) if Core member(s) should be co-author(s). When no Core members are co-authors, inclusion of an acknowledgement to the Consortium for providing the resource is the only action required.
Back to top How do I contact CFG personnel? Visit the People page. Back to top What was the CFG's relationship with Nature Publishing Group? In 2006, the CFG teamed up with the Nature Publishing Group (NPG) to create the Functional Glycomics Gateway, which encompassed the existing CFG website and databases and the Functional Glycomics Update from NPG. As of September 1, 2011 the Functional Glycomics Gateway is supported solely by the CFG. Archived Update material, which includes research highlights and a library of cutting-edge glycomics papers from 2006-2011, is available in the Functional Glycomics Archive. Back to top How can I learn to use the CFG's website, databases, and resources? An online tutorial created in collaboration with the company OpenHelix provides detailed information about the databases and resources that are available on the CFG's website, the CFG Functional Glycomics Gateway. Topics covered include: how to find and mine data generated by the CFG, how to find information about specific glycans, glycan-binding proteins (GBPs) and glycosyltransferases in the CFG Molecule Pages, and how to request CFG reagents (carbohydrates, mass spectrometry standards, enzymes and antibodies) and glycan array screening services. Back to top What are the CFG subgroups? When Participating Investigators join the CFG, they opt to join one or more subgroups based on their research interests. The subgroups provide a mechanism for collaborative efforts among investigators. Each year they hold several workshop designed to foster networking and collaboration between experts from a variety of backgrounds, and to develop working groups to identify and solve specific problems with the support of the CFG. Back to top How do I join a subgroup? Once you have joined the CFG, you may select a subgroup by viewing the Subgroup Organization Page and following the link to self-assign. Password and login information is required. Back to top How do I communicate with my subgroup? To view a list of all subgroup members or to email your Subgroup Leader, visit the Subgroup Organization Page. What are the CFG 'Paradigm Pages'? The Paradigm Pages are a wiki platform that provide detailed information about 'paradigm' glycan-binding proteins (GBPs) that have been selected to represent all mammalian and microbial GBPs within the scope of the CFG. The Paradigm Pages can be edited by any Participating Investigator wishing to contribute. Back to top How do I contribute to the Paradigm Pages? The CFG Paradigm Pages are open to contributions from all Participating Investigators, who can request an account to edit the wiki pages by visiting the Paradigm Pages and following the 'log in' link at the top right-hand corner. For help requesting account, see this visual. For more information on the purpose of these pages and instructions on how to edit a wiki page, see these instructions. Back to top What types of resources and services are offered by the CFG? Back to top How much do CFG resources and services cost? Screening of samples on the CFG glycan array is a service provided free to the community for scientifically justified experiments. For Reagent Bank materials, investigators will be requested to pay a $250.00 handling fee plus shipping costs for each resource request to cover the cost of distributing reagents. To receive resources, investigators must agree to have data deposited to the CFG database, or become Participating Investigators, which carries the same obligation. Data generated by CFG-funded Scientific Cores is deposited directly into the CFG databases and becomes public within 6 weeks. Data obtained in the investigator's lab with CFG resource is deposited quarterly, and is made public on his/her own accord (e.g. publication or presentation at public meetings).
Back to top How can I request resources or services from the CFG? Resources and services can be requested by filling out an online form to explain what resources you are requesting, how they will be used, and how it addresses the CFG's overall goal. Please submit a separate request for each resource or project. The appropriate core director will review your request and contact you if more information is needed. Once the core director finalizes your request and makes a recommendation, the CFG Steering Committee will review it for final approval at their next bi-weekly meeting. Back to top Where can I check the status of my resource request? A submitted request can take several weeks to obtain approval from the Steering Committee before being placed in a queue of samples to be analyzed. To check on the status of your request login and find your name on the list of approved resource requests or contact the appropriate Core Director. Back to top Where can I find experimental protocols/methods relate to CFG resources and services? Follow the links below to protocol information for each resource. Currently available CFG resources and services: Historical resources and services: Back to top Where can CFG-generated knockout mice be found? CFG production of novel mouse strains was discontinued by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) as of November 1, 2009. From 2001-2009, the CFG generated 26 total and conditional knockout mouse lines deficient in glycan-binding proteins or glycosyltransferases. Although the CFG no longer generates new mouse lines, a mouse clearinghouse page is maintained as a service to the community to help investigators locate potential sources of glycogene knockout mouse lines.
Back to top In addition to the mammalian glycan array, does the CFG screen reagents on a pathogen glycan array? Not at this time. The first version of the array was launched in September 2008, and some preliminary studies were performed. However, funding for the pathogen glycan array has been discontinued by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). The CFG is currently seeking alternative funding for this array.
Back to top How do I use the Consortium for Functional Glycomics (CFG) search function? To search for all CFG-related information, data, resource requests, and editorial content pertaining to a particular carbohydrate or glycan-binding protein, simply type the name into the search box on the Functional Glycomics Gateway homepage using a keyword (e.g. 'SNA', 'galectin-1', 'influenza', etc.) or IUPAC nomenclature for a particular carbohydrate (e.g. 'galb1-4GlcNAc'). For search terms with more than one word, use AND (e.g. 'mannose AND receptor'). From there you will see a landing page sorting the number of search results into several categories. Click on the hyperlinked numbers on the right to view hits from select categories, or the first link to view all of your search results. What types of information can be found in the CFG databases? From the CFG's Functional Glycomics Gateway, you will find links to CFG Data and the CFG Molecule Pages CFG Data
CFG Molecule Pages
How do I upload my data to the CFG database? Go to the CFG homepage and log in. Follow the link at the bottom of the welcome page to your Approved Requests. A page listing all of your requests will appear. Find the appropriate request, click 'Upload Files' in the right-hand column, and proceed.
Back to top How do I search glycan array screening data? From the Glycan array data page, search by Sample Type (i.e. animal glycan-binding protein, plant lectin, etc.) or by Glycan Array Version (i.e. mammalian printed array version 5.0) to find your own primary screening data or to browse the data. To further refine results, choose either Data only, Inconclusive only, or All from the bottom of the search page. The search results are organized into a table listing Sample, Species, Protein Family, Investigator, Experiment (resource request #), and Primary Screening Data. Click the yellow triangles under any of these headings to sort by that category (e.g. alphabetical order by investigator or numerical order by resource request #). Alternatively, simply type the name of the glycan-binding protein of interest into the search box at the top of the Functional Glycomics Gateway homepage and follow the links on the search landing page to Glycan Array Data. Back to top Where can I find more information about a particular carbohydrate 'hit' in my glycan array screening data? From the Glycan array data page, search by Sample Type (e.g. animal glycan-binding protein, plant lectin, etc.) or by Glycan Array Version (e.g. printed array version 5.0) to find your own primary screening data or to browse the data. From the resulting list of screening projects, click on the 'primary screen information' icon in the right-hand column to view a bar chart of the results for a given experiment. High affinity ligands are indicated with a blue dot. Mouse over these peaks to view a cartoon representation of the 'Glycan Being Browsed' in the lower box. Click for more information about that particular glycan, including a list of other glycan-binding proteins that also recognize that ligand with high affinity. Back to top How do I compare expression levels of a particular gene across different cell/tissue types? To access the CFG's gene expression data-mining tool, visit the Microarray data page and click on the magnifying glass  icon (as pictured at right) associated with one of the listed datasets to access the GeneBrowser tool. A new box will pop up.
Use the drop-down folders in this box to select genes of interest and click Search at the bottom. A bar graph will appear depicting expression levels of that gene in all samples within the chosen experiment.
Back to top How can I locate CFG glycogene expression data in NCBI's Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database? To find data from an individual experiment, follow the links under the 'Data Analysis' column on the CFG Microarray data page To find all data sets generated using specific versions of the CFG glyco-gene chip, go to the GEO website and search for the accession numbers for the four different versions of the chip, called 'platforms.' Note that for versions 3 and 4 only, data sets for mouse and human probes were assigned different accession numbers. Accession numbers are as follows: GLYCOv1 Chip (mouse and human), GPL 11093; GLYCOv2 Chip (mouse and human), GPL 11094; GLYCOv3 Chip (human), GPL 11095; GLYCOv3 Chip (mouse), GPL 11096; GLYCOv4 Chip (human), GPL 11097; GLYCOv4 Chip (mouse), GPL 11098.
Back to top How do I browse the glycome of a particular cell or tissue type? Glycan profiling experiments performed by the Analytical Glycotechnology Core (C) identify and characterize the glycans from glycoconjugates that are present in human and mouse tissues, using mass spectrometry experiments and other analyses. From the Glycan profiling data page, the data are organized into two main categories: tissue and cells. You can further refine your search by choosing a species, tissue or cell type, mouse strain/type (if applicable), glycan type, or name of the Participating Investigator who submitted the samples to the CFG. Once you find an experiment of interest, click on the mass spectra icon (as pictured at right)  to view the Mass Spectrum Viewer. Each peak corresponds to a glycan structure identified on the surface of the selected cell or tissue type. Major peaks are illustrated with a cartoon representation of the glycan, using the
CFG carbohydrate symbol nomenclature. Use the arrows at the top of the viewer to move along the entire spectrum. Click-drag on the spectrum to zoom in on a region. Push ESC to exit the zoom function. Control-click (or Command-click on a Mac) on one of the cartoons to see the CFG glycan database entries for that particular glycan. Click on an entry to expand or contract it.
Back to top How do I access the CFG's knockout mouse phenotyping data? The Mouse Phenotype Core (G) data page offers raw histology, hematology, immunology, and behavior/metabolism data, experimental information, and a summary of experiments for over 30 different glycogene knockout mouse lines. Back to top |
