Lipopolysaccharides from Campylobacter jejuni associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome patients mimic human gangliosides in structure.
Lipopolysaccharides extracted from Campylobacter jejuni serostrains (serotype reference strains) for serotypes O:4 and O:19 were found to have core oligosaccharides with terminal structures resembling human gangliosides GM1 and GD1a. High-molecular-weight molecules that reflected the presence of O chains were shown in immunoblots to be immunologically specific for each serostrain. The O:19 antiserum also reacted strongly with core oligosaccharides of two isolates from patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), but the banding patterns and molecular structures were different from those of the O:19 serostrain. A neuraminobiose disaccharide unit is attached to the terminal Gal residue in one isolate, and the other isolate lacked terminal N-acetyl glucosamine and galactose with attached sialic acid so that the sialic acid residues were present in a neuraminobiose unit linked to the only remaining galactose. Analysis of the high-M(r) lipopolysaccharides of the O:19 serostrain and the two isolates from GBS patients revealed the presence of a hyaluronic acid-like polymer with disaccharide-repeating units consisting of beta-D-glucuronic acid amidated with 2-amino-2-deoxyglycerol and N-acetyl glucosamine. The results confirm a potential role for the core oligosaccharides in the etiology of GBS but also suggest that the O-chain polysaccharide may be a contributing factor.
Aspinall
G O
GO
Department of Bacteriology, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Fujimoto
S
S
McDonald
A G
AG
Pang
H
H
Kurjanczyk
L A
LA
Penner
J L
JL
D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D005732:Gangliosides / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011129:Polyradiculoneuropathy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology
D005732:Gangliosides; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides