Synthetic Studies of Bacterial Glycans

细菌的表面覆盖着含碳水化合物的分子（聚糖），这些分子在细菌的生命周期中起着关键作用。这些聚糖通常是生命所必需的，有助于保护这些生物体免受环境的影响，通常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药物作用的潜在靶点，基于这些结构的疫苗是有效的抗感染保护剂。化学合成细菌聚糖用于基础化学和生物化学研究的能力是实现这些医学相关目标的必要先决条件。我的小组已经研究了几年，从分枝杆菌，包括结核分枝杆菌，导致结核病的有机体的聚糖的合成，构象和生物化学。最近，我们开始了一项关于空肠弯曲杆菌聚糖的合成计划，空肠弯曲杆菌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.