Synthesis, Conformal Analysis, and Antibody Binding of Staphylococcus aureus Capsular Polysaccharide Type 5 Oligosaccharides.

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most prominent pathogens responsible for life-threatening hospital acquired infections. Most clinical isolates belong to serotype 5 or 8, which express unique capsular polysaccharides (CP), composed of the rare N-acetyl-β-d-mannosaminuronic acid (β-d-ManNAcA), N-acetyl-α-l-fucosamine (α-l-FucNAc) and N-acetyl-β-d-fucosamine (β-d-FucNAc) that can be used for the development of conjugate vaccines. Different acetylation patterns of CP5 create microheterogeneous polymers, carrying partial zwitterionic character, which may be important for immunological activity.

Long, Synthetic Type 8 Capsular Oligosaccharides Reveal Structural Epitopes for Effective Immune Recognition.

is a Gram-positive bacterium that is responsible for severe nosocomial infections. The rise of multidrug-resistant strains, which can pose significant health threats, prompts the development of new treatment interventions, and much attention has been directed at the development of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccination strategies. Capsular polysaccharides (CPs) are key protective elements of the cell wall and have been proposed as promising candidate antigens.

The molecular architecture of S-layer: Assembly and attachment to teichoic acids.

S-layers are crystalline arrays found on bacterial and archaeal cells. is a diverse family of bacteria known especially for potential gut health benefits. This study focuses on the S-layer proteins from and common in the mammalian gut.

Synthetic carbohydrate-based cell wall components from Staphylococcus aureus.

Glycopolymers are found surrounding the outer layer of many bacterial species. The first uses as immunogenic component in vaccines are reported since the beginning of the XX century, but it is only in the last decades that glycoconjugate based vaccines have been effectively applied for controlling and preventing several infectious diseases, such as H. influenzae type b (Hib), N.

Generation of glucosylated -1-glycerolphosphate teichoic acids: glycerol stereochemistry affects synthesis and antibody interaction.

Lipoteichoic acids (LTAs) have been addressed as possible antigen candidates for vaccine development against several opportunistic Gram-positive pathogens. The study of structure-immunogenicity relationship represents a challenge due to the heterogenicity of LTA extracted from native sources. LTAs are built up from glycerol phosphate (GroP) repeating units and they can be substituted at the C-2-OH with carbohydrate appendages or d-alanine residues.

Reagent controlled stereoselective synthesis of teichoic acid α-(1,2)-glucans.

The stereoselective construction of 1,2-cis-glycosidic linkages is key in the assembly of biologically relevant glycans, but remains a synthetic challenge. Reagent-controlled glycosylation methodologies, in which external nucleophiles are employed to modulate the reactivity of the glycosylation system, have become powerful means for the construction of 1,2-cis-glycosidic linkages. Here we establish that nucleophilic additives can support the construction of α-1,2-glucans, and apply our findings in the construction of a d-alanine kojibiose functionalized glycerol phosphate teichoic acid fragment.

Streamlined Synthesis and Evaluation of Teichoic Acid Fragments.

Teichoic acids (TAs) are key components of the Gram-positive bacterial cell wall that are composed of alditol phosphate repeating units, decorated with alanine or carbohydrate appendages. Because of their microhetereogeneity, pure well-defined TAs for biological or immunological evaluation cannot be obtained from natural sources. We present here a streamlined automated solid-phase synthesis approach for the rapid generation of well-defined glycosylated, glycerol-based TA oligomers.