title: Towards a synthetic glycoconjugate vaccine against Neisseria meningitidis A.
abstract: Albumin conjugates of synthetic fragments of the capsular polysaccharide of the Gram-negative bacterium Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A were prepared. The fragments include monosaccharides 1 [alpha-D-ManpNAc-(1-->O)-(CH(2))(2)NH(2)] and 2 [6-O-P(O)(O(-))(2)-alpha-D-ManpNAc-(1-->O)-(CH(2))(2)NH(2)], disaccharide 3 [alpha-D-ManpNAc-[1-->O-P(O)(O(-))-->6]-alpha-D-ManpNAc-(1-->O)-(CH(2))(2)NH(2)], and trisaccharide 4 [alpha-D-ManpNAc-[1-->O-P(O)(O(-))-->6]-alpha-D-ManpNAc-[1-->O-P(O)(O(-))-->6]-alpha-D-ManpNAc-(1-->O)-(CH(2))(2)NH(2)]. Two monosaccharide blocks were employed as key intermediates. The reducing-end mannose unit featured the NHAc group at C-2, and contained the aminoethyl spacer as the aglycon for the final bioconjugation. The interresidual phosphodiester linkages were fashioned from an anomerically positioned H-phosphonate group in a 2-azido-mannose building block. The spacer-linked saccharides 1-4 were N-acylated with hepta-4,6-dienoic acid and the resulting conjugated diene-equipped saccharides were subjected to Diels-Alder-type addition with maleimidobutyryl-group functionalized human serum albumin to form covalent conjugates containing up to 26 saccharide haptens per albumin molecule. Complete (1)H, (13)C, and (31)P NMR assignments for 1-4 are given. Antigenicity of the neoglycoconjugates containing 1-4 was demonstrated by a double immunodiffusion assay which indicated that a fragment as small as a monosaccharide is recognized by a polyclonal meningococcus group A antiserum and that the O-acetyl group(s) present in the natural capsular material is not essential for antigenicity.
mesh_terms: D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D006001:Glycoconjugates / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D038381:Neisseria meningitidis, Serogroup A / Q000276:immunology*; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D018074:Vaccines, Conjugate / Q000737:chemistry*; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D006001:Glycoconjugates; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial; D018074:Vaccines, Conjugate; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic