Scientific Publications by FDA Staff

ACS Catal 2020 Feb 21;10(4):2791-8

Size-controlled chemoenzymatic synthesis of homogeneous oligosaccharides of Neisseria meningitidis W capsular polysaccharide.

Li RY, Yu H, Muthana SM, Freedberg DI, Chen X

Neisseria meningitidis (Nm) serogroup W (NmW) is one of the six meningococcal serogroups that cause majority invasive meningococcal diseases (IMD). Its capsular polysaccharide (CPS) is a virulence factor. NmW CPS-protein conjugate vaccines (CPSs) developed and used in clinic are effective but the costs are high and the products are heterogeneous at both the CPS and the conjugate levels. Towards the development of potentially better and lower cost NmW CPS vaccines, herein we report the synthesis of homogeneous oligosaccharides of NmW CPS in a size-controlled manner using a highly active polysaccharide synthase NmSiaDW in an efficient sequential one-pot multienzyme (OPME) process. Taking advantage of the synthetic oligosaccharides obtained, detailed characterization of NmSiaDW has been achieved. This study provides a better understanding of NmSiaDW polysaccharide synthase and showcases an efficient chemoenzymatic synthetic platform for obtaining NmW CPS oligosaccharides with controlled lengths.