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The immune response to group B streptococcus type III capsular polysaccharide is directed to the -Glc-GlcNAc-Gal- backbone epitope

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Abstract

The structures of the branched capsular polysaccharides of group B streptococcus type III (GBSIIIPS) and Streptococcus pneumoniae type 14 (Pn14PS) are identical apart from the (α2→3)-linked sialic acid in the side chains of GBSIIIPS. The present study tries to determine the minimal epitope in GBSIIIPS, using both a panel of anti-Pn14PS mouse sera and sera of humans vaccinated with either Pn14PS or GBSIIIPS. Type-specific Pn14PS antibodies that recognize the branched structure of Pn14PS have a low affinity for the native GBSIIIPS. Desialylation of GBSIIIPS results in dramatically higher affinity of anti-Pn14PS antibodies. Epitope specific anti-Pn14PS mouse antibodies and human sera of PCV7 vaccinees only recognized structures with the branching element -Glc-(Gal-)GlcNAc-, in particular -Gal-Glc-(Gal-)GlcNAc- in Pn14PS. On the other hand anti-GBSIIIPS human antibodies recognize predominantly the linear structure in the backbone of Pn14PS or GBSIIIPS, i.e., -Glc-GlcNAc-Gal-. This difference in antigenicity of Pn14PS and GBSIIIPS is in agreement with the difference in flexibility of the two polysaccharides caused by the presence or absence of sialic acid.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a grant from the European Commission under contract MRTN-CT-2004-005645. We thank Dr. Dennis Kasper, Channing laboratory, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA for the generous gift of purified polysaccharide of GBSIII, human anti-GBSIIIPS antibody, and a mouse monoclonal antibody against GBSIIIPS. We also thank Jovanka Besteboer, Alex Laarman and Ben de Jong (St. Antonious Hospital) for technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Dodi Safari, Huberta A. T. Dekker & Harm Snippe

  2. Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology, Jl. Diponegoro no 69, Jakarta, Indonesia, 10430

    Dodi Safari

  3. Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, St. Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands

    Ger T. Rijkers

  4. Department of Medical Microbiology and the Reference Laboratory for Bacterial Meningitis, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Arie van der Ende

  5. Bijvoet Center, Department of Bio-Organic Chemistry, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Johannis P. Kamerling

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  1. Dodi Safari
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  2. Huberta A. T. Dekker
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  3. Ger T. Rijkers
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  5. Johannis P. Kamerling
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  6. Harm Snippe
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Correspondence to Dodi Safari.

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Safari, D., Dekker, H.A.T., Rijkers, G.T. et al. The immune response to group B streptococcus type III capsular polysaccharide is directed to the -Glc-GlcNAc-Gal- backbone epitope. Glycoconj J 28, 557–562 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10719-011-9354-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10719-011-9354-1

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