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Infection and Immunity, October 2005, p. 6383-6389, Vol. 73, No. 10
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.10.6383-6389.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Doubly Branched Hexasaccharide Epitope on the Cell Wall Polysaccharide of Group A Streptococci Recognized by Human and Rabbit Antisera

Francis Michon,1 Samuel L. Moore,1 John Kim,1 Milan S. Blake,2 France-Isabelle Auzanneau,3 Blair D. Johnston,3 Margaret A. Johnson,3 and B. Mario Pinto3*

Baxter Vaccines, Beltsville, Maryland 20705,1 Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER)/FDA, 1401 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20851-1448,2 Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6 Canada3

Received 9 April 2005/ Returned for modification 28 May 2005/ Accepted 10 June 2005

A number of epitope specificities associated with the cell wall polysaccharide antigen of group A streptococci were identified in a polyclonal rabbit antiserum induced in rabbits by whole group A streptococci and in polyclonal convalescent human antisera from children that had recovered from streptococcal A infections. The identification was achieved by using a series of synthetic oligosaccharides, glycoconjugates, and bacterial polysaccharide inhibitors to inhibit the binding of the group A helical polysaccharide to the polyclonal antisera. The exclusively dominant epitope expressed in the convalescent human antisera was the doubly branched extended helical hexasaccharide with the structure {alpha}-L-Rhap(1->2)[ß-D-GlcpNAc(1->3)]{alpha}-L-Rhap(1->3){alpha}-L-Rhap(1->2)[ß-D-GlcpNAc(1->3)]{alpha}-L-Rhap. The hexasaccharide epitope also bound with the highest immunoreactivity to the rabbit antiserum. In contrast, the human antisera did not show significant binding to the singly branched pentasaccharide with the structure {alpha}-L-Rhap(1->2){alpha}-L-Rhap(1->3){alpha}-L-Rhap(1->2)[ß-D-GlcpNAc(1->3)]{alpha}-L-Rhap or the branched trisaccharide {alpha}-L-Rhap(1->2)[ß-D-GlcpNAc(1->3)]{alpha}-L-Rhap, although both these haptens bound significantly to the same rabbit antiserum, albeit with less immunoreactivity than the hexasaccharide. Inhibition studies using streptococcal group A and B rabbit antisera and the inhibitors indicated above also suggested that the group A carbohydrate, unlike the group B streptococcal polysaccharide, does not contain the disaccharide {alpha}-L-Rhap(1->2){alpha}-L-Rhap motif at its nonreducing chain terminus, stressing the importance of mapping the determinant specificities of these two important streptococcal subcapsular group polysaccharides to fully understand the serological relationships between group A and group B streptococci.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6. Phone: (604) 291-4327. Fax: (604) 291-5424. E-mail: bpinto{at}sfu.ca.

Editor: J. D. Clements

Infection and Immunity, October 2005, p. 6383-6389, Vol. 73, No. 10
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.10.6383-6389.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Sutcliffe, I. C., Black, G. W., Harrington, D. J. (2008). Bioinformatic insights into the biosynthesis of the Group B carbohydrate in Streptococcus agalactiae. Microbiology 154: 1354-1363 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Moore, S. L., Uitz, C., Ling, C.-C., Bundle, D. R., Fusco, P. C., Michon, F. (2007). Epitope Specificities of the Group Y and W-135 Polysaccharides of Neisseria meningitidis. CVI 14: 1311-1317 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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