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PMID: 372481 Published · ppublish English Journal Article

Form variation in Escherichia coli K1: determined by O-acetylation of the capsular polysaccharide.

The Journal of experimental medicine ·Vol. 149 ·No. 3 ·1979-03-01 ·Pages 669-85

Orskov F, Orskov I, Sutton A, Schneerson R, Lin W, Egan W, Hoff GE, Robbins JB

Abstract

The chemical basis for the alternating antigenic change called form variation noted for the Escherichia coli K1-capsular polysaccharide has been shown by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance to be a result of random O-acetylation of C7 and C9 carbons of the alpha-2-8-linked sialic acid homopolymer. A serologic method (antiserum agar) was developed to identify and isolate the form variants. The O-acetyl positive and O-acetyl negative K1 polysaccharides had unique biochemical and immunologic properties. The O-acetyl-positive variants resisted neuraminidase hydrolysis in contrast to the susceptibility of the O-acetyl negative variant to this enzyme. In addition, O-acetylation altered the antigenicity of the O-acetyl polysaccharides. When injected as whole organisms, O-acetyl positive organisms produced anti-K1 -antibodies in rabbits specific for this polysaccharide variant. O-acetyl negative organisms were comparatively less immunogenic; however, antibodies induced by these organisms reacted with both K1 polysaccharide variants. Burros, injected with either variant, produced antibodies reactive with both K1 polysaccharides.

MeSH Terms
Acetylation Antibodies, Bacterial Antibody Formation Antigens, Bacterial/analysis Escherichia coli/immunology Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Neuraminidase/metabolism Polysaccharides, Bacterial/immunology Serotyping Sialic Acids
Chemicals
Antibodies, Bacterial Antigens, Bacterial Polysaccharides, Bacterial Sialic Acids Neuraminidase
Authors & Affiliations
8 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Orskov F
Orskov I
Sutton A
Schneerson R
Lin W
Egan W
Hoff G E
Robbins J B
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45 references, click to expand
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Article Info
Journal
The Journal of experimental medicine
Abbr.
J Exp Med
ISSN
0022-1007
DOI
10.1084/jem.149.3.669
Published
1979-03-01
Pages
669-85
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
2985109R
PMCID
PMC2184817
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1084/jem.149.3.669 PMC Full Text View journal details
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