Research Highlights
Cross-species detection and bactericidal activity for pseudaminic acid-coated bacteria

Pseudaminic acid (Pse), a unique carbohydrate in surface-associated glycans of pathogenic bacteria, has pivotal roles in virulence. Therefore, the detection and therapy targeted on Pse turn into an attractive issue. We reported here that a catalytically inactive ΦAB6TSP (I-ΦAB6TSP) retains binding ability toward Pse and I-ΦAB6TSP–DyLight-650 conjugate (Dy-I-ΦAB6TSP) can cross-react on different Pse-coated pathogenic bacteria, revealing it to be a promising probe for detecting Pse across bacterial species. We also developed a detection method that employs I-ΦAB6TSP immobilized on microtiter plate. Astonishingly, the serum boosted by Pse-derived glycoconjugate facilitated complement-mediated bacterial killing with cross-species activity.

Article title: “Bacteriophage tail-spike proteins enable detection of pseudaminic acid-coated pathogenic bacteria and guide the development of anti-glycan antibodies with cross-species anti-bacterial activity”

Article link: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.0c07314

Authors: I-Ming Lee, I-Fan Tu, Feng-Ling Yang and Shih-Hsiung Wu*

Updated: 2020.12.01