Hana Nováková

Charles University Prague / Structural Glycobiology

Advisor: Prof. Jan Beneš

Hana Nováková resolves the three-dimensional nanoscale architecture of the endothelial glycocalyx — the sugar-coat lining blood vessel lumens — using cryo-electron tomography, a technique sufficiently new that the glycocalyx's native structure has never been visualised at resolutions relevant to macromolecule transit. At Charles University Prague's Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, supervised by Prof. Jan Beneš, she has developed a cryo-FIB lamella preparation protocol that preserves the fully hydrated glycocalyx in situ without the collapse artefacts introduced by dehydration and heavy-metal staining. Subtomogram averaging of 1,240 glycocalyx repeat units from five vitreous sections reconstructed at 15 Å resolution reveals a branched polysaccharide forest with a mean canopy height of 83 nm and pore throat diameters of 6–14 nm — values that explain the molecular weight cutoff for transcytosis of biologics observed in pharmacokinetic experiments. Hana has identified three structurally distinct glycocalyx microdomains corresponding to proteoglycan-rich, glycoprotein-rich, and hybrid zones, with implications for tissue-specific drug delivery targeting. Her collaboration with Lonza's biologics permeability modelling team and an eLife manuscript in submission mark her as a researcher on the cusp of significant industry impact in the large-molecule drug delivery space.