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Comment
. 2022 Mar;298(3):101755.
doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.101755. Epub 2022 Feb 22.

Expanding polysaccharide-protein coupling of glycoconjugate vaccines

Francesco Berti  1
Affiliations
Comment

Expanding polysaccharide-protein coupling of glycoconjugate vaccines

Francesco Berti. J Biol Chem. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

For the preparation of glycoconjugate vaccines, polysaccharide antigens can usually be chemically modified to generate reactive functional groups (e.g., the formation of aldehyde groups by periodate oxidation of adjacent diols) for covalent coupling with proteins. In a recent issue of JBC, Duke et al. showed that an alternative agent, galactose oxidase (GOase) isolated from the fungus Fusarium sp. can generate aldehyde groups in a unique chemoenzymatic approach to prepare a conjugate vaccine against Streptococcus pneumoniae. These findings introduce a new strategy for the design and development of glycoconjugate vaccines.

Keywords: capsular polysaccharide; chemoenzymatic reaction; galactose oxidase; glycoconjugate vaccine.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest F. B. is an employee of the GSK group of companies. F. B. is listed as an inventor on patents owned by the GSK group of companies.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Highlighting the structures of polysaccharide with Galactose units “terminally linked” and “in chain". Schematic representation of (A) Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 14 and (B) Neisseria meningitidis serogroup W polysaccharide repeating units with Galactose residues “terminally linked” and “in chain,” respectively.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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