CSDB: Search results

Zwitterionic capsular polysaccharides from pathogenic bacteria have peculiar immunological properties. They are capable of eliciting T-cell proliferation and modulating the course of abscess formation. To understand the molecular basis of this characteristic immune response, we are conducting detailed structure-function studies on these polysaccharides. We have identified, purified, and characterized an abscess-modulating polysaccharide, PS A2, from the clinical strain Bacteroides fragilis 638R. Here, we report the elucidation of both the chemical and three-dimensional structures of PS A2 by NMR spectroscopy, chemical methods, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and restrained molecular dynamics calculations. PS A2 consists of a pentasaccharide repeating unit containing mannoheptose, N-acetylmannosamine, 3-acetamido-3,6-dideoxyglucose, 2-amino-4-acetamido-2,4,6-trideoxygalactose, fucose, and 3-hydroxybutanoic acid. PS A2 is zwitterionic and carries one cationic free amine and one anionic carboxylate in each repeating unit. It forms an extended right-handed helix with two repeating units per turn and a pitch of 20 A. Positive and negative charges are exposed on the outer surface of the polymer in a regularly spaced pattern, which renders them easily accessible to other molecules. The helix is characterized by repeated large grooves whose lateral boundaries are occupied by the charges. The three-dimensional structure of PS A2 explicitly suggests mechanisms of interaction between zwitterionic polysaccharides and proteins

polysaccharide, Bacteroides, Bacteroides fragilis

NCBI PubMed ID: 11106392
Publication DOI: 10.1073/pnas.97.25.13478
Journal NLM ID: 7505876
Publisher: National Academy of Sciences
Correspondence: ywang@channing.harvard.edu
Institutions: Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Graduate Program in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Division of Medical Sciences, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
Methods: 13C NMR, 1H NMR, GLC-MS, NMR-2D, MD simulations

Bacterial extracellular polysaccharides are known as a cell-bound capsule, a sheath, or a slime, which is excreted into the environment. They play an important role in virulence of medical bacteria and plant-to-symbiont interaction and are used for serotyping of bacteria and production of vaccines. Some exopolysaccharides have commercial applications in industry, and claims of health benefits have been documented for an increasing number of them. Exopolysaccharides have diverse composition and structure, and some contain sugar and non-sugar components that are found in bacterial carbohydrates only. The present article provides an updated collection of the data on exopolysaccharides of various classes of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria reported until the end of 2019. When known, biosynthesis pathways of exopolysaccharides are treated in a summary manner. References are made to structure and biosynthesis relatedness between exopolysaccharides of different bacterial taxa as well as between bacterial polysaccharides and mammalian glycosaminoglycans.

polysaccharide structure, Gram-negative bacteria, capsule, Biofilm, polysaccharide biosynthesis, gram-positive bacteria, Monosaccharide composition, Bacterial exopolysaccharide, non-sugar component

Publication DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-819475-1.00005-5
Publisher: Elsevier
Correspondence: marie-rose.vancalsteren@canada.ca; yknirel@gmail.com
Editors: Barchi J, Kamerling H
Institutions: N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, Saint-Hyacinthe Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC, Canada

References to other databases: GTC:G48989LY, GlycomeDB:37659
Structural formula & atomic coordinates
Sweet-II 3D model
Show glycosyltransferases

Although Bacteroides fragilis accounts for only 0.5% of the normal human colonic flora, it is the anaerobic species most frequently isolated from intra-abdominal and other infections with an intestinal source. The capsular polysaccharides of B. fragilis are part of a complex of surface polysaccharides and are the organism's most important virulence factors in the formation of intra-abdominal abscesses. Two capsular polysaccharides from strain NCTC9343, PS A1 and PS B1, have been characterized structurally. Their most striking feature is a zwitterionic charge motif consisting of both positively and negatively charged substituent groups on each repeating unit. This zwitterionic motif is essential for abscess formation. In this study, we sought to elucidate structural features of the capsular polysaccharide complex of a commonly studied B. fragilis strain, 638R, that is distinct from strain 9343. We sought a more general picture of the species to establish basic structure-activity and structure-biosynthesis relationships among abscess-inducing polysaccharides. Strain 638R was found to have a capsular polysaccharide complex from which three distinct carbohydrates could be isolated by a complex purification procedure. Compositional and immunochemical studies demonstrated a zwitterionic charge motif common to all of the capsular polysaccharides that correlated with their ability to induce experimental intra-abdominal abscesses. Of interest is the range of net charges of the isolated polysaccharides-from positive (PS C2) to balanced (PS A2) to negative (PS 3). Relationships among structural components of the zwitterionic polysaccharides and their molecular biosynthesis loci were identified.

strain, capsular, characterization, polysaccharide, capsular polysaccharides, capsular polysaccharide, biological, polysaccharides, immunochemical, Bacteroides, Bacteroides fragilis

NCBI PubMed ID: 11254591
Journal NLM ID: 0246127
Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
Correspondence: wkalka-molt@rics.bwh.harvard.edu
Institutions: Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Womens Hospital, Boston, USA
Methods: NMR