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Resveratrol, a natural polyphenol abundantly found in grape skins and red wine, possesses diverse biochemical and physiological actions, including anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidation, anti-proliferation and promotion of differentiation, and chemopreventive effects. Recently, it is attracting increased attention due to its health benefits, especially in common age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and neurological conditions. In this review, we discuss the latest cellular and molecular findings that account for the beneficial actions of resveratrol.

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The tetrasaccharide 3-deoxy-aD -manno-2-octulosonic acid (ac-KDO)(2-8)-ce-KDO(2->4)-ce-KDO(2->6)-IGIcNAc, a partial structure of chlamydial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) representing a genus-specific epitope, was synthesized and covalently linked to bovine serum albumin, resulting in an artificial glycoconjugate antigen. Mice were immunized with the glycoconjugate to prepare chlamydia-specific monoclonal antibodies. They were selected with chlamydia-specific LPS antigens and the structurally and antigenically related Re-type LPS of a Salmonella minnesota rough mutant. Characterization of the selected antibodies was by (i) hemagglutination of sheep erythrocytes coated with recombinant chlamydia-specific LPS, (ii) inhibition by synthetic polyacrylamide derivatives containing the genus-specific epitope or partial structures thereof, (iii) enzyme immunoassay with recombinant LPS and synthetic bovine serum albumin glycocon,jugates as solid-phase antigens, (iv) immunofluorescence of L929 monolayers infected with Chlamydia psitfaci or C. trachomatis, and (v) Western immunoblots with glycoconjugates and LPS as the antigen. Two groups of monoclonal antibodies were obtained; the monoclonal antibodies in one group cross-reacted with chlamydial and Re-type LPS, but those of the other group were chlamydia specific. Among the latter, KDO trisaccharide-specific antibodies that had the same epitope specificity as antibodies obtained after immunization with chlamydial elementary bodies were identified; however, they exhibited a more than 100-fold higher affinity. In addition, antibodies that bound preferentially to the 2.8-linked KDO disaccharide were detected, although with lower affinity. The data show that the artificial glycoconjugate antigen is similar to its natural counterpart.

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