Synthesis of Ribofuranosides by Catalysis with Lewis Acids. Glycosidation Versus Transacetylation

Total Synthesis of Campylobacter jejuni NCTC11168 Capsular Polysaccharide via the Intramolecular Anomeric Protection Strategy

The infection of Campylobacter jejuni results in a significant diarrhea disease, which is highly fatal to young children in unindustrialized countries. Developing a new therapy is required due to increasing antibiotic resistance. Herein, we described a total synthesis of a C. jejuni NCTC11168 capsular polysaccharide repeating unit containing a linker moiety via an intramolecular anomeric protection (iMAP) strategy. This one-step 1,6-protecting method structured the challenging furanosyl galactosamine configuration, facilitated further concise regioselective protection, and smoothed the heptose synthesis. The tetrasaccharide was constructed in a [2 + 1 + 1] manner. The synthesis of this complicated CPS tetrasaccharide was completed in merely 28 steps, including the preparation of all the building blocks, construction of the tetrasaccharide skeleton, and functional group transformations.

Glycoconjugate Vaccines for Prevention of Haemophilus influenzae Type b Diseases

This review summarizes the experience in laboratory- and industrial-scale syntheses of glycoconjugate vaccines used for prevention of infectious diseases caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b bacteria based on the linear capsular polysaccharide poly-3-β-D-ribosyl-(1→1)-D-ribitol-5-phosphate (PRP) or related synthetic oligosaccharide ligands. The methods for preparation of related oligosaccharide derivatives and results of the studies evaluating effect of their length on immunogenic properties of the conjugates with protein carriers are overviewed.

Protecting group migrations in carbohydrate chemistry

Protecting groups are valuable in chemo- and regioselective synthetic manipulations. In particular, they are indispensable in carbohydrate chemistry. Although a wide array of protecting groups are available at the disposal of carbohydrate chemists, their stability and orthogonality make the choice of protecting groups challenging. Another important factor is the migratory aptitude of different protecting groups used in carbohydrate chemistry. Migration of commonly used groups like silyl, acetal and acyl groups under various reaction conditions are discussed. Synthetic application of predicted migrations, alternate protecting groups to avoid migration and conditions favoring and disfavoring migrations are discussed in this review.

The synthesis of novel chromogenic enzyme substrates for detection of bacterial glycosidases and their applications in diagnostic microbiology

The preparation and evaluation of chromogenic substrates for detecting bacterial glycosidase enzymes is reported. These substrates are monoglycoside derivatives of the metal chelators catechol, 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN) and 6,7-dibromo-2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene (6,7-dibromo-DHN). When hydrolysed by appropriate bacterial enzymes these substrates produced coloured chelates in the presence of ammonium iron(III) citrate, thus enabling bacterial detection. A β-d-riboside of DHN and a β-d-glucuronide derivative of 6,7-dibromo-DHN were particularly effective for the detection of S. aureus and E. coli respectively.

A modular synthetic route to size-defined immunogenic Haemophilus influenzae b antigens is key to the identification of an octasaccharide lead vaccine candidate

A Haemophilus influenzae b vaccine lead antigen was identified by the immunological evaluation of chemically precisely defined capsular polysaccharide repeating unit oligosaccharides.

The first glycoconjugate vaccine using isolated glycans was licensed to protect children from Haemophilus influenzae serotype b (Hib) infections. Subsequently, the first semisynthetic glycoconjugate vaccine using a mixture of antigens derived by polymerization targeted the same pathogen. Still, a detailed understanding concerning the correlation between oligosaccharide chain length and the immune response towards the polyribosyl-ribitol-phosphate (PRP) capsular polysaccharide that surrounds Hib remains elusive. The design of semisynthetic and synthetic Hib vaccines critically depends on the identification of the minimally protective epitope. Here, we demonstrate that an octasaccharide antigen containing four repeating disaccharide units resembles PRP polysaccharide in terms of immunogenicity and recognition by anti-Hib antibodies. Key to this discovery was the development of a modular synthesis that enabled access to oligosaccharides up to decamers. Glycan arrays containing the synthetic oligosaccharides were used to analyze anti-PRP sera for antibodies. Conjugates of the synthetic antigens and the carrier protein CRM197, which is used in licensed vaccines, were employed in immunization studies in rabbits.

Effects of 5-O-Ribosylation of Aminoglycosides on Antimicrobial Activity and Selective Perturbation of Bacterial Translation

We studied six pairs of aminoglycosides and their corresponding ribosylated derivatives synthesized by attaching a β-O-linked ribofuranose to the 5-OH of the deoxystreptamine ring of the parent pseudo-oligosaccharide antibiotic. Ribosylation of the 4,6-disubstituted 2-deoxystreptamine aminoglycoside kanamycin B led to improved selectivity for inhibition of prokaryotic relative to cytosolic eukaryotic in vitro translation. For the pseudodisaccharide aminoglycoside scaffolds neamine and nebramine, ribosylated derivatives were both more potent antimicrobials and more selective to inhibition of prokaryotic translation. On the basis of the results of this study, we suggest that modification of the 5-OH position of the streptamine ring of other natural or semisynthetic pseudodisaccharide aminoglycoside scaffolds containing an equatorial amine at the 2' sugar position with a β-O-linked ribofuranose is a promising avenue for the development of novel aminoglycoside antibiotics with improved efficacy and reduced toxicity.

Influence of 4'-O-Glycoside Constitution and Configuration on Ribosomal Selectivity of Paromomycin

A series of 20 4'-O-glycosides of the aminoglycoside antibiotic paromomycin were synthesized and evaluated for their ability to inhibit protein synthesis by bacterial, mitochondrial and cytosolic ribosomes. Target selectivity, i.e., inhibition of the bacterial ribosome over eukaryotic mitochondrial and cytosolic ribosomes, which is predictive of antibacterial activity with reduced ototoxicity and systemic toxicity, was greater for the equatorial than for the axial pyranosides, and greater for the d-pentopyranosides than for the l-pentopyranosides and d-hexopyranosides. In particular, 4'-O-β-d-xylopyranosyl paromomycin shows antibacterioribosomal activity comparable to that of paromomycin, but is significantly more selective showing considerably reduced affinity for the cytosolic ribosome and for the A1555G mutant mitochondrial ribosome associated with hypersusceptibility to drug-induced ototoxicity. Compound antibacterioribosomal activity correlates with antibacterial activity, and the ribosomally more active compounds show activity against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Enterobacter cloacae, Acinetobacter baumannii, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The paromomycin glycosides retain activity against clinical strains of MRSA that are resistant to paromomycin, which is demonstrated to be a consequence of 4'-O-glycosylation blocking the action of 4'-aminoglycoside nucleotidyl transferases by the use of recombinant E. coli carrying the specific resistance determinant.

Iodine-promoted ribosylation leads to a facile acetonide-forming reaction

Iodine not only promotes smooth beta-selective glycosylation of ribose tetra-acetate under exceptionally mild conditions, it also catalyzes an expedient acetonide-forming reaction in this system when dry acetone is used as a solvent.

Trisaccharide mimetics of the aminoglycoside antibiotic neomycin

A highly convergent approach for the chemical synthesis of eight structurally related trisaccharides that contain 3 to 5 amino groups has been described. Fourier-transformation ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) has been employed to determine the dissociation constants (Kd) for the binding of the trisaccharides to a prototypical fragment of 16S ribosomal RNA. A compound that contained a 4,6-dideoxy-4-amino-beta-D-glucopyranoside moiety at C-3 displayed binding in the low micromolar range. It was found that small structural changes of the saccharides resulted in large differences in affinity. The described structure-activity relationship is expected to be valuable for the development of novel antibiotics that target rRNA.

A Synthetic Conjugate Polysaccharide Vaccine Against Haemophilus influenzae Type b

Glycoconjugate vaccines provide effective prophylaxis against bacterial infections. To date, however, no commercial vaccine has been available in which the key carbohydrate antigens are produced synthetically. We describe the large-scale synthesis, pharmaceutical development, and clinical evaluation of a conjugate vaccine composed of a synthetic capsular polysaccharide antigen of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). The vaccine was evaluated in clinical trials in Cuba and showed long-term protective antibody titers that compared favorably to licensed products prepared with the Hib polysaccharide extracted from bacteria. This demonstrates that access to synthetic complex carbohydrate-based vaccines is feasible and provides a basis for further development of similar approaches for other human pathogens.

Evaluation of novel beta-ribosidase substrates for the differentiation of Gram-negative bacteria

AIMS

To synthesize novel substrates for the detection of beta-ribosidase and assess their potential for the differentiation of Gram-negative bacteria.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Two novel chromogenic substrates, 3',4'-dihydroxyflavone-4'-beta-D-ribofuranoside (DHF-riboside) and 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-beta-D-ribofuranoside (X-riboside) were evaluated along with a known fluorogenic substrate, 4-methylumbelliferyl-beta-D-ribofuranoside (4MU-riboside). A total of 543 Gram-negative bacilli were cultured on media containing either DHF-riboside or X-riboside. Hydrolysis of DHF-riboside or X-riboside resulted in the formation of clearly distinguishable black or blue-green colonies, respectively. Hydrolysis of 4MU-riboside was evaluated in a liquid medium in microtiter trays and yielded blue fluorescence on hydrolysis which was measured using fluorimetry. beta-Ribosidase activity was widespread with 75% of strains, including 85.6% of Enterobacteriaceae, showing activity with at least one substrate. Genera that demonstrated beta-ribosidase activity included Aeromonas, Citrobacter, Enterobacter, Escherichia, Hafnia, Klebsiella, Morganella, Providencia, Pseudomonas, Salmonella and Shigella. In contrast, strains of Proteus spp., Acinetobacter spp., Yersinia enterocolitica, Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio parahaemolyticus generally failed to demonstrate beta-ribosidase activity.

CONCLUSIONS

The novel substrates DHF-riboside and X-riboside are effective for the detection of beta-ribosidase in agar-based media and may be useful for the differentiation and identification of Gram-negative bacteria.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

This is the first report describing the application and utility of chromogenic substrates for beta-ribosidase. These substrates could be applied in chromogenic media for differentiation of Gram-negative bacteria.