2020/05/08

Synthesis and Structural Analysis of Aspergillus fumigatus Galactosaminogalactans featuring α‐galactose, α‐galactosamine and α‐N‐acetyl galactosamine linkages

CIC bioGUNE researchers have participated in a joint effort to synthesize and characterize the three-dimensional structure of galactosaminogalactans (GAG), a prominent cell wall component of Aspergillus fumigatus, a key factor for infection of the host.

The designed GAGs, which display unique conformational features, will be instrumental in future binding studies to establish GAG-epitopes to be used for well-defined anti-fungal conjugate vaccine modalities.

This achievement, just published in Angew Chem Int Ed (doi: 10.1002/anie.202003951), is the result of a long standing collaboration of the Chemical Glycobiology group at CIC bioGUNE with the lab of J. Codée (Leiden Institute of Chemistry).