Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Infection and Immunity logoLink to Infection and Immunity
. 1986 Jul;53(1):110–115. doi: 10.1128/iai.53.1.110-115.1986

Shigella flexneri O-antigen epitopes: chemical and immunochemical analyses reveal that epitopes of type III and group 6 antigens are identical.

N I Carlin, T Wehler, A A Lindberg
PMCID: PMC260083  PMID: 2424840

Abstract

In the present investigation we studied the nature of a Shigella flexneri O antigen, the type III antigen. No structural entity has yet been attributed to this antigen. Phenol-water-extracted lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) from all S. flexneri serotypes possessing either group 6 antigen or both type III antigen and group 6 antigen were subjected to de-O-acetylation by weak alkali treatment. Two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of serotype 3a native LPS and de-O-acetylated LPS were completely resolved, confirming the established structure (L. Kenne, B. Lindberg, K. Petersson, E. Katzenellenbogen, and E. Romanowska, Eur. J. Biochem. 91:279-284, 1978) and proving that no other structural alteration was introduced by the treatment. Both native and de-O-acetylated LPSs of serotypes 1b, 3a, 3b, and 4b were tested in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay against four absorbed rabbit anti-S. flexneri antisera and three monoclonal antibodies with specificity for different parts of the S. flexneri type III antigen and group 6 antigen. Upon de-O-acetylation, all binding capacity for the tested antibodies was lost. The chemical and immunological results indicate that the type III and group 6 antigens of S. flexneri are one and the same, a result of the presence of the O-acetyl group in rhamnose III of the repeating unit of the S. flexneri O-antigen chain.

Full text

PDF
110

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Carlin N. I., Lindberg A. A., Bock K., Bundle D. R. The Shigella flexneri O-antigenic polysaccharide chain. Nature of the biological repeating unit. Eur J Biochem. 1984 Feb 15;139(1):189–194. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1984.tb07993.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Carlin N. I., Lindberg A. A. Monoclonal antibodies specific for O-antigenic polysaccharides of Shigella flexneri: clones binding to II, II:3,4, and 7,8 epitopes. J Clin Microbiol. 1983 Nov;18(5):1183–1189. doi: 10.1128/jcm.18.5.1183-1189.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Carlin N. I., Lindberg A. A. Monoclonal antibodies specific for Shigella flexneri lipopolysaccharides: clones binding to type I and type III:6,7,8 antigens, group 6 antigen, and a core epitope. Infect Immun. 1986 Jul;53(1):103–109. doi: 10.1128/iai.53.1.103-109.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Carlsson H. E., Lindberg A. A., Hammarström S. Titration of antibodies to salmonella O antigens by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Infect Immun. 1972 Nov;6(5):703–708. doi: 10.1128/iai.6.5.703-708.1972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dröge W., Lüderitz O., Westphal O. Biochemical studies on lipopolysaccharides of Salmonella R mutants. 3. The linkage of the heptose units. Eur J Biochem. 1968 Mar;4(1):126–133. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1968.tb00182.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gemski P., Jr, Koeltzow D. E., Formal S. B. Phage conversion of Shigella flexneri group antigens. Infect Immun. 1975 Apr;11(4):685–691. doi: 10.1128/iai.11.4.685-691.1975. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Johnston J. H., Johnston R. J., Simmons D. A. The immunochemistry of Shigella flexneri O-antigens. The biochemical basis of smooth to rough mutation. Biochem J. 1967 Oct;105(1):79–87. doi: 10.1042/bj1050079. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kenne L., Lindberg B., Petersson K. Basic structure of the oligosaccharide repeating-unit of the Shigella flexneri O-antigens. Carbohydr Res. 1977 Jul;56(2):363–370. doi: 10.1016/s0008-6215(00)83357-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kenne L., Lindberg B., Petersson K., Katzenellenbogen E., Romanowska E. Structural studies of Shigella flexneri O-antigens. Eur J Biochem. 1978 Nov 2;91(1):279–284. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1978.tb20963.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kenne L., Lindberg B., Petersson K., Katzenellenbogen E., Romanowska E. Structural studies of the Shigella flexneri variant X, type 5 a and type 5 b O-antigens. Eur J Biochem. 1977 Jun 15;76(2):327–330. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1977.tb11599.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kumar A., Ernst R. R., Wüthrich K. A two-dimensional nuclear Overhauser enhancement (2D NOE) experiment for the elucidation of complete proton-proton cross-relaxation networks in biological macromolecules. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1980 Jul 16;95(1):1–6. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(80)90695-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Lindberg A. A., Wollin R., Gemski P., Wohlhieter J. A. Interaction between bacteriophage Sf6 and Shigella flexner. J Virol. 1978 Jul;27(1):38–44. doi: 10.1128/jvi.27.1.38-44.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Romanowska E., Katzenellenbogen E., Lugowski C., Mulczyk M. The chemical nature of Shigella flexneri group antigen factor 6. Pathol Microbiol (Basel) 1971;37(5):352–360. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Infection and Immunity are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES