PURPOSE To investigate the hypothesis that pseudoexfoliation (PSX) syndrome is a systemic disorder, the authors studied the composition of glycoconjugates in the intraocular and extraocular PSX material at the electron microscopic level, using a panel of lectins as cytochemical probes. METHODS The authors examined 8 lid skins, 11 trabecular tissues, and 3 cataractous lenses from human eyes wi...

The biosynthesis and degradation of glycoconjugates are catalyzed by glycosyltransferases and glycosidases, respectively, and the genes which encode glycosyltransferases and related proteins are referred to as `glyco-genes'. The expression of glycosyltransferases, the substrate speci®city of the enzymes and their subcellular localization represent key determinants in the biosynthesis of sugar c...

Glycoconjugates were isolated, by repeated chromatography on Biogel P-4, from urine of two patients with different phenotypes of fucosidosis, type I (acute) and type II (chronic). Studies of the isolated compounds with thin-layer chromatography, chromatography on Biogel P-4, gas-liquid chromatography, and 1H- and 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy showed differences in the excretion pa...

Biofilm formation and the production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) by meso- and thermoacidophilic metal-oxidizing archaea on relevant substrates have been studied to a limited extent. In order to investigate glycoconjugates, a major part of the EPS, during biofilm formation/bioleaching by archaea on pyrite, a screening with 75 commercially available lectins by fluorescence lectin-...

Glycan microarrays have emerged as novel tools to study carbohydrate-protein interactions. Here we describe the preparation of a covalent microarray with lipochitin oligosaccharides and its use in studying proteins containing LysM domains. The glycan microarray was assembled from glycoconjugates that were synthesized by using recently developed bifunctional chemoselective aminooxy reagents with...

The structural integrity of meningococcal native, micro-fluidized and activated capsular polysaccharides and their glycoconjugates - in the form most relevant to their potential use as vaccines (dilute solution) - have been investigated with respect to their homogeneity, conformation and flexibility. Sedimentation velocity analysis showed that the polysaccharide size distributions were generall...

Linear carbohydrate-peptide constructs based on the 13 amino acid nonnatural pan DR epitope (PADRE) and carbohydrate B cell epitopes are demonstrated to be potent immunogens. These data support our belief that PADRE should be considered as an alternative to more complex carriers for use in prophylaxis and therapeutic vaccines. Two model carbohydrate-PADRE glycoconjugates were used to demonstrat...

BACKGROUND Leishmania major infection induces robust interleukin-12 (IL12) production in human dendritic cells (hDC), ultimately resulting in Th1-mediated immunity and clinical resolution. The surface of Leishmania parasites is covered in a dense glycocalyx consisting of primarily lipophosphoglycan (LPG) and other phosphoglycan-containing molecules (PGs), making these glycoconjugates the likely...

Mucus secreted onto the surface of the intestine forms a physical barrier to invading parasites so that a possible attachment of helminths to the surface is prevented and their expulsion by peristalsis facilitated. In mammals, intestinal parasites induce hyperplasia and hypertrophy of intestine goblet cells and provoke changes in the mucus composition. In fish, this topic has received less atte...

The polysaccharide capsule which surrounds bacterial species like Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis, Salmonella typhi, is a potent virulence factor. It protects the bacterium from phagocytosis, but capsule specific antibodies plus complement binding to the capsule opsonise the organism for phagocytosis and elimination. Purified capsules elicit T-independen...