Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an infectious vector-borne disease that affects millions of people worldwide, and it is caused by several species of the protozoan parasite Leishmania. In the Old World, one of the main causative agents of CL is L. major. This parasite species expresses an “exotic” surface glycocalyx mainly composed of abundant glycoinositolphospholipids (GIPLs), some of them containing terminal α-galactopyranosyl (Galαp) residues. The complete structure of L. major GIPLs have been solved in the past. It was found that both L. major and L. mexicana express type-2 GIPLs, which are known to be highly immunogenic, most likely due to the presence of unusual α-galactopyranosyl (Galαp) and β-galactofuranosyl (Galβf) moieties. However, the exact structures of the immunodominant glycotopes responsible for eliciting IgG antibodies in CL patients have not been determined. The identification of these glycotopes are of great interest as potential biomarkers for the accurate diagnosis of CL, which can be challenging using conventional methods. Here we present the chemical synthesis of five terminal oligosaccharides of type-2 GIPLs ranging from Galβf1,3Manα to the more complex Galαp1,6Galαp1,3Galβf1,3Manα. These glycans were then conjugated to BSA to produce neoglycoproteins for their use as antigens in chemiluminescent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (CL-ELISA) using CL patient sera, and to evaluate them as biomarkers for the diagnosis of CL.

Synthesis of neoglycoproteins as potential diagnostic tools for cutaneous leishmaniasis

2019 Spring National Meeting

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