Solution conformation and flexibility of capsular polysaccharides from Neisseria meningitidis and glycoconjugates with the tetanus toxoid protein.

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 generally bimodal with some evidence for higher molar mass forms at higher concentration. Weight average molar masses Mw where lower for activated polysaccharides. Conjugation with tetanus toxoid protein however greatly increased the molar mass and polydispersity of the final conjugates. Glycoconjugates had an approximately unimodal log-normal but broad and large molar mass profiles, confirmed by sedimentation equilibrium "SEDFIT MSTAR" analysis. Conformation analysis using HYDFIT (which globally combines sedimentation and viscosity data), "Conformation Zoning" and Wales-van Holde approaches showed a high degree of flexibility - at least as great as the unconjugated polysaccharides, and very different from the tetanus toxoid (TT) protein used for the conjugation. As with the recently published finding for Hib-TT complexes, it is the carbohydrate component that dictates the solution behaviour of these glycoconjugates, although the lower intrinsic viscosities suggest some degree of compaction of the carbohydrate chains around the protein.

A glycoconjugate of Haemophilus influenzae Type b capsular polysaccharide with tetanus toxoid protein: hydrodynamic properties mainly influenced by the carbohydrate.

Three important physical properties which may affect the performance of glycoconjugate vaccines against serious disease are molar mass (molecular weight), heterogeneity (polydispersity), and conformational flexibility in solution. The dilute solution behaviour of native and activated capsular polyribosylribitol (PRP) polysaccharides extracted from Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), and the corresponding glycoconjugate made by conjugating this with the tetanus toxoid (TT) protein have been characterized and compared using a combination of sedimentation equilibrium and sedimentation velocity in the analytical ultracentrifuge with viscometry. The weight average molar mass of the activated material was considerably reduced (Mw ~ 0.24 × 10(6) g.mol(-1)) compared to the native (Mw ~ 1.2 × 10(6) g.mol(-1)). Conjugation with the TT protein yielded large polydisperse structures (of Mw ~ 7.4 × 10(6) g.mol(-1)), but which retained the high degree of flexibility of the native and activated polysaccharide, with frictional ratio, intrinsic viscosity, sedimentation conformation zoning behaviour and persistence length all commensurate with highly flexible coil behaviour and unlike the previously characterised tetanus toxoid protein (slightly extended and hydrodynamically compact structure with an aspect ratio of ~3). This non-protein like behaviour clearly indicates that it is the carbohydrate component which mainly influences the physical behaviour of the glycoconjugate in solution.

An asymmetric and slightly dimerized structure for the tetanus toxoid protein used in glycoconjugate vaccines.

Tetanus toxoid protein has been characterized with regard oligomeric state and hydrodynamic (low-resolution) shape, important parameters with regard its use in glycoconjugate vaccines. From sedimentation velocity and sedimentation equilibrium analysis in the analytical ultracentrifuge tetanus toxoid protein is shown to be mostly monomeric in solution (~86%) with approximately 14% dimer. The relative proportions do not appear to change significantly with concentration, suggesting the two components are not in reversible equilibrium. Hydrodynamic solution conformation studies based on high precision viscometry, combined with sedimentation data show the protein to be slightly extended conformation in solution with an aspect ratio ~3. The asymmetric structure presents a greater surface area for conjugation with polysaccharide than a more globular structure, underpinning its popular choice as a conjugation protein for glycoconjugate vaccines.

Solution properties of capsular polysaccharides from Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Capsular polysaccharides from ten different serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae have been studied with regards their hydrodynamic properties in solution, namely their sedimentation coefficient and molar mass distributions, solution conformations and flexibilities (persistence lengths Lp), important properties for the construction of polysaccharide and glycoconjugate vaccines. Sedimentation and molar mass distributions (obtained by sedimentation velocity and equilibrium analysis in the analytical ultracentrifuge supported by size exclusion chromatography coupled to multi-angle light scattering measurements) were generally unimodal, with weight (mass) average molar masses ranging from 100×10(3) to 1300×10(3) g/mol. Estimates of chain flexibilities from three different procedures applied to intrinsic viscosity, sedimentation coefficient and molar mass data, showed that the polysaccharides from all the serotypes studied had semi-flexible structures in solution with persistence lengths in the range from ∼4 to 9 nm.

Rapid identification of common hexapyranose monosaccharide units by a simple TOCSY matching approach.

Solution NMR spectroscopy is a well established technique for non-destructive characterization of the structures and conformations of complex oligo- and polysaccharides. One of the key experiments involves the use of 2D TOCSY to collect the 1H spins into groups that can be associated with the individual saccharide units that are present in the molecule under study. It is well known that the magnetization transfer rate through the 1H spin system during the TOCSY spin lock period is sensitive to the intervening 3J(H,H) scalar couplings, and therefore also to the saccharide stereochemistry. Here, we have investigated the potential to extract information on the stereochemistry of hexapyranose monosaccharide units directly from TOCSY spectra. Through a systematic experimental investigation of the magnetization transfer initiated from the anomeric 1H resonance in D-glucose, D-galactose and D-mannose it is shown that a 100 ms spin lock time provides optimal spectroscopic discrimination between these three commonly occurring building blocks. A simple matching scheme is proposed as a new tool for rapid attribution of the TOCSY traces originating from the anomeric 1H resonances towards the underlying monosaccharide type. The scheme appears robust with regard to structural variations and fairly tolerant to incidental overlap. Its application provides useful guidance during the subsequent NMR assignment process, as demonstrated with the PS7F polysaccharide from Streptococcus pneumonia. In addition, we show that our scheme affords a clear-cut distinction between the alpha- and beta-epimers of D-mannose-type units, which can be difficult to discriminate by NMR analysis. Application to the N-glycan 100.2 demonstrates the potential and wide applicability of this new discrimination approach.