The Soluble Specific Substance of Pneumococcus

Heidelberger, Michael; Avery, Oswald T.

doi:10.1084/jem.38.1.73

Cited by 264 publications

(52 citation statements)

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“…The chemical nature of the capsule was elucidated to be polysaccharide (PS) through studies of pneumococcal culture supernatants (called the soluble specific substance [SSS]), which contained materials reacting with serotyping sera (17,18). The pneumococcal capsule is critical for evading phagocytosis (19), and its role in virulence is clearly demonstrated by the fact that enzymatic digestion of the serotype 3 capsule reduced virulence by more than one million-fold in a mouse model (20).…”

Section: History Of Pneumococcus and Its Serotypesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies of the chemical structure of capsular PS began when investigators began to study the capsular PS in pneumococcal culture supernatants (17,18). The determination of PS structure requires defining the various structural aspects of the repeating unit, which includes identifying saccharide residues and their order and linkages (28).…”

Section: Biochemical Elucidation Of Capsular Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pneumococcal Capsules and Their Types: Past, Present, and Future

et al. 2015

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SUMMARY Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is an important human pathogen. Its virulence is largely due to its polysaccharide capsule, which shields it from the host immune system, and because of this, the capsule has been extensively studied. Studies of the capsule led to the identification of DNA as the genetic material, identification of many different capsular serotypes, and identification of the serotype-specific nature of protection by adaptive immunity. Recent studies have led to the determination of capsular polysaccharide structures for many serotypes using advanced analytical technologies, complete elucidation of genetic basis for the capsular types, and the development of highly effective pneumococcal conjugate vaccines. Conjugate vaccine use has altered the serotype distribution by either serotype replacement or switching, and this has increased the need to serotype pneumococci. Due to great advances in molecular technologies and our understanding of the pneumococcal genome, molecular approaches have become powerful tools to predict pneumococcal serotypes. In addition, more-precise and -efficient serotyping methods that directly detect polysaccharide structures are emerging. These improvements in our capabilities will greatly enhance future investigations of pneumococcal epidemiology and diseases and the biology of colonization and innate immunity to pneumococcal capsules.

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Section: History Of Pneumococcus and Its Serotypesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Biochemical Elucidation Of Capsular Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Pneumococcal Capsules and Their Types: Past, Present, and Future

et al. 2015

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“…Vaccines that protect humans against bacterial pathogens elicit antibody responses to either neutralize a key virulence factor, for example Corynebacterium diphtheriae diphtheria toxin (129), or induce opsonophagocytic killing of the invading pathogen, typically by binding to bacterial capsular polysaccharides (130, 131). The latter are currently used to establish protective immunity against Neisseria meningitidis , Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumonia (132).…”

Section: Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathogenesis of Staphylococcus aureus Bloodstream Infections

Thomer

Schneewind

Missiakas

2016

Annu. Rev. Pathol. Mech. Dis.

229

196

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Staphylococcus aureus , a Gram-positive bacterium colonizing nares, skin, and the gastrointestinal tract, frequently invades the skin, soft tissues, and bloodstreams of humans. Even with surgical and antibiotic therapy, bloodstream infections are associated with significant mortality. The secretion of coagulases, proteins that associate with and activate the host hemostatic factor prothrombin, and the bacterial surface display of agglutinins, proteins that bind polymerized fibrin, are key virulence strategies for the pathogenesis of S. aureus bloodstream infections, which culminate in the establishment of abscess lesions. Pathogen-controlled processes, involving a wide spectrum of secreted factors, are responsible for the recruitment and destruction of immune cells, transforming abscess lesions into purulent exudate, with which staphylococci disseminate to produce new infectious lesions or to infect new hosts. Research on S. aureus bloodstream infections is a frontier for the characterization of protective vaccine antigens and the development of immune therapeutics aiming to prevent disease or improve outcomes.

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“…Since the discover of Heidelberger and Avery in 1923 that pneumococcas serotype was based on antibody recognition of the capsular polysaccharide (142), nine carbohydrate-based vaccines have been approved and over a dozen others are in clinical trials (143). Some of the earliest vaccine studies using glycan arrays involved mapping the epitope of the broadly neutralizing HIV antibody 2G12, which recognizes a cluster of high-mannose N-linked glycans on the gp120 coat protein (53, 80, 144).…”

Section: Decoding the Glycome: Biological Applications Of Glycan Micrmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glycan Microarrays for Decoding the Glycome

Rillahan

Paulson

2011

Annu. Rev. Biochem.

401

347

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In the last decade glycan microarrays have revolutionized the analysis of the specificity of glycan binding proteins, providing information that simultaneously illuminates the biology mediated by them and decodes the information content of the glycome. Numerous methods have emerged for arraying glycans in a ‘chip’ format, and glycan libraries have been assembled that address the diversity of the human glycome. Such arrays have been successfully used for analysis of glycan binding proteins that mediate mammalian biology, host-pathogen interactions, immune recognition of glycans relevant to vaccine production and cancer antigens. This review covers the development of glycan microarrays and applications that have provided insights into the roles of mammalian and microbial glycan binding proteins.

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The Soluble Specific Substance of Pneumococcus

Cited by 264 publications

References 1 publication

Pneumococcal Capsules and Their Types: Past, Present, and Future

Pneumococcal Capsules and Their Types: Past, Present, and Future

Pathogenesis of Staphylococcus aureus Bloodstream Infections

Glycan Microarrays for Decoding the Glycome

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