title: Identification of a novel inner-core oligosaccharide structure in Neisseria meningitidis lipopolysaccharide.
abstract: The structure of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from three Neisseria meningitidis strains was elucidated. These strains were nonreactive with mAbs that recognize common inner-core epitopes from meningococcal LPS. It is well established that the inner core of meningococcal LPS consists of a diheptosyl-N-acetylglucosamine unit, in which the distal heptose unit (Hep II) can carry PEtn at the 3 or 6 position or not at all, and the proximal heptose residue (Hep I) is substituted at the 4 position by a glucose residue. Additional substitution at the 3 position of Hep II with a glucose residue is also a common structural feature in some strains. The structures of the O-deacylated LPSs and core oligosaccharides of the three chosen strains were deduced by a combination of monosaccharide analysis, NMR spectroscopy and MS. These analyses revealed the presence of a structure not previously identified in meningococcal LPS, in which an additional beta-configured glucose residue was found to substitute Hep I at the 2 position. This provided the structural basis for the nonreactivity of LPS with these mAbs. The determination of this novel structural feature identified a further degree of variability within the inner-core oligosaccharide of meningococcal LPS which may contribute to the interaction of meningococcal strains with their host.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biological Sciences, National Research Council, Ottawa, Canada. Andrew.Cox@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
authors.forename: Andrew D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: J Claire
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Margaret A J
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gidney
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lacelle
authors.forename: Joyce S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Plested
authors.forename: Adele
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: E Richard
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Moxon
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Richards
mesh_terms: D002236:Carbohydrate Conformation; D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization
chemical_list: D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D009844:Oligosaccharides