Synthetic oligosaccharides as tools to demonstrate cross-reactivity between polysaccharide antigens.

ABSTRACT: Escherichia coli O148 is a nonencapsulated enterotoxigenic (ETEC) Gram negative bacterium that can cause diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis, and hemolytic uremic syndrome in humans. The surface-exposed O-specific polysaccharide (O-SP) of the lipopolysaccharide of this bacterium is considered both a virulence factor and a protective antigen. It is built up of the linear tetrasaccharide repeating unit [3)-α-L-Rhap-(1→2)-α-D-Glcp-(1→3)-α-D-GlcNAcp-(1→3)-α-L-Rhap-(1→] differing from that of the O-SP of Shigella dysenteriae type 1 (SD) only in that the latter contains a D-Galp residue in place of the glucose moiety of the former. The close similarity of the O-SPs of these bacteria indicated a possible cross-reactivity. To answer this question we synthesized several oligosaccharide fragments of E. co

SUBMITTER: Pozsgay V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3746347 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature