Synthesis of oligosaccharides to identify an immunologically active epitope against infection.

() is an emerging multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen that represents a significant public health challenge as it can spread rapidly and result in high mortality rates. The mannans on the cell surface are potent immunogens and attractive targets for developing a glycoconjugate vaccine. We synthesized the oligosaccharides resembling cell surface mannans of and printed them onto microarray slides that were used to screen plasma from mice infected with . IgM antibodies in mouse plasma recognize the β-1,2 linkage present in surface mannans. Disaccharide 19 emerged from glycan array screening as a lead for developing a vaccine against , as the majority of patient plasma samples showed antibodies against this glycan. The synthetic oligosaccharides can be used for the early detection of infections.

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PMID: 37449061