Structure of the O-polysaccharide and characterization of the O-antigen gene cluster of Salmonella enterica O53

Convergent Synthesis of Oligosaccharide Fragments Corresponding to the Cell Wall O-Polysaccharide of Salmonella enterica O53

Conventional glycoconjugate vaccines are prepared with polysaccharides isolated from bacterial fermentation, an approach with some significant drawbacks such as handling of live bacterial strains, the presence of biological impurities, and inter-batch variations in oligosaccharide epitope structure. However, it has been shown in many cases that a synthetic fragment of appropriate structure conjugated to a protein can be an effective vaccine that circumvents the shortcomings of using full-length oligosaccharides. The development of synthetic strategies to prepare glycoconjugate derivatives against pathogenic bacterial strains is therefore of great interest. Oligosaccharide fragments corresponding to the repeat unit of the cell wall O-antigen of Salmonella enterica strain O53 were synthesized in good yield. Sequential and block glycosylation strategies were used for the synthesis of the target compounds. A number of recently developed reaction conditions were used in the synthetic strategy. A one-pot reaction scheme was also developed for the multiple glycosylation steps. The stereoselective outcomes of all glycosylation reactions were very good.

Structural diversity in Salmonella O antigens and its genetic basis

This review covers the structures and genetics of the 46 O antigens of Salmonella, a major pathogen of humans and domestic animals. The variation in structures underpins the serological specificity of the 46 recognized serogroups. The O antigen is important for the full function and virulence of many bacteria, and the considerable diversity of O antigens can confer selective advantage. Salmonella O antigens can be divided into two major groups: those which have N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) or N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) and those which have galactose (Gal) as the first sugar in the O unit. In recent years, we have determined 21 chemical structures and sequenced 28 gene clusters for GlcNAc-/GalNAc-initiated O antigens, thus completing the structure and DNA sequence data for the 46 Salmonella O antigens. The structures and gene clusters of the GlcNAc-/GalNAc-initiated O antigens were found to be highly diverse, and 24 of them were found to be identical or closely related to Escherichia coli O antigens. Sequence comparisons indicate that all or most of the shared gene clusters were probably present in the common ancestor, although alternative explanations are also possible. In contrast, the better-known eight Gal-initiated O antigens are closely related both in structures and gene cluster sequences.

Glycosylation studies on conformationally restricted 3,5-O-(di-tert-butylsilylene)-D-galactofuranosyl trichloroacetimidate donors for 1,2-cis α-D-galactofuranosylation

Conformationally restricted 3,5-O-di-tert-butylsilylene-D-galactofuranosyl trichloroacetimidate donors were synthesized from allyl α-D-galactofuranoside for the construction of 1,2-cis α-D-galactofuranosyl linkages. Glycosylation reactions were performed with several acceptors, including D-galactono-1,4-lactone, D-rhamnopyranosyl, and D-mannopyranosyl derivatives. The influence of the temperature and the reaction solvents was evaluated, as well as the 6-O-substitution pattern of the donor. The higher α-selectivities were obtained at -78 °C in diethyl ether as solvent. 6-O-Acetyl substitution on constrained donor increased the α-selectivity compared to the 6-O-benzyl substitution. Almost no selectivities were observed in the non-participating solvent CH(2)Cl(2). In contrast, ethereal solvents enhanced the α-selectivity suggesting a participating effect in the reaction intermediate.