title: Physicochemical properties of bacterial glycopolymers in relation to bioactivity.
abstract: An overview is given on the physicochemical properties of bacterial glycopolymers, i.e., pure oligo- and polysaccharides as well as glycolipids. Data from analysis of the chemical and physicochemical properties of various sugar polymers are summarized. Furthermore, data are presented on the thorough characterization of the most important class of bacterial glycopolymers, the lipopolysaccharides (LPS). These data comprise the chemical characterization, the gel to liquid crystalline phase transition behaviour of their acyl chains, the ultrastructural studies of their morphology, and the investigation of the types of aggregate structures present above the critical micellar concentration (CMC). Furthermore, the relevance of these data with respect to an understanding of the various biological effects elicited by LPS is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Forschungszentrum Borstel, LG Biophysik, Parkallee 10, D-23845 Borstel, Germany. kbranden@fz-borstel.de
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brandenburg
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Andrä
authors.forename: Mareike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Michel H J
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Garidel
mesh_terms: D002236:Carbohydrate Conformation; D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000737:chemistry; D006001:Glycoconjugates / Q000737:chemistry; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry*; D008823:Micelles; D008954:Models, Biological; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D004731:Endotoxins; D006001:Glycoconjugates; D006017:Glycolipids; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D008823:Micelles; D011108:Polymers; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial