Synthetic Studies of Bacterial Glycans

细菌表面覆盖着碳水化合物分子(多糖)，这些分子在细菌的生命周期中发挥着关键作用。这些多糖通常是生命所必需的，有助于保护这些有机体免受环境的影响，通常会调节受感染宿主的免疫系统。这些碳水化合物的组装途径是潜在的药物作用靶点，基于这些结构的疫苗是有效的预防感染的保护剂。化学合成细菌多糖用于基础化学和生化研究的能力是实现这些更具医学意义的目标的必要前提。几年来，我的团队一直在研究分枝杆菌的多糖的合成、构象和生物化学，包括引起结核病的微生物结核分枝杆菌。最近，我们开始了一个关于空肠弯曲菌多聚糖的合成项目，这是食物中毒的常见原因。

The surfaces of bacteria are coated with carbohydrate-containing molecules (glycans) that play critical roles in their life cycles. These glycans are usually essential for life and help protect these organisms from their environment, often modulating the immune system of infected hosts. The pathways by which these carbohy- drates are assembled are potential targets for drug action, and vaccines based on these structures are effective protectants against infection. The ability to chemically synthesize bacterial glycans for use in fundamental chemical and biochemical studies is a necessary prerequisite to achieving these more medically relevant goals. My group has, for several years, studied the synthesis, conformation and biochemistry of glycans from mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the organism that causes tuberculosis. Recently, we began a synthetic program on glycans from Campylobacter jejuni, a common cause of food poisoning.