title: Purification and characterization of Staphylococcus aureus type 8 capsular polysaccharide.
abstract: Clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus have been previously classified into eight types on the basis of their capsular polysaccharide. The high prevalence of the type 8 capsular polysaccharide among bacteremic isolates suggests the importance of this capsular antigen in staphylococcal disease. The capsular polysaccharide was purified from extracts of three clinical isolates of S. aureus type 8 of different geographic and temperal origin by ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration. Gas chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance showed that the type 8 capsular polysaccharide is composed of O-acetyl groups, N-acetylfucosamine, and an aminouronic acid similar to N-acetylgalactosaminouronic acid. The purified polysaccharide reacted only with type 8 antiserum in double diffusion experiments. Our analysis shows that the type 8 polysaccharide is both chemically and serologically distinct from teichoic acid and previously characterized polysaccharides of S. aureus.
mesh_terms: D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000032:analysis; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D006801:Humans; D005779:Immunodiffusion; D007122:Immunoelectrophoresis; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial