Regulation of the O-antigen polysaccharide chain length by Wzz－A review

Abstract:

Abstract:The O-antigen of Gram-negative bacterium plays an important role in the signal identification，adhesion，immune evasion and other processes．There are three O-antigen polysaccharides biosynthesis mechanisms according to the type of the flippase that is involved． The Wzy-dependent mechanism is more commonly seen．In Wzy-dependent mechanism，the wzz gene is involved in regulating the length of O-antigen polysaccharide chain which can affect antigenicity of the pathogen and immune response of the host． Based on the crystal structure of Wzz ( regulator of the Oantigen polysaccharides length)，different length of O-antigen chain can be obtained through molecular modification of the gene wzz．Conjugating O-antigen or its mutants of a pathogen to a carrier protein could help to develop a vaccine that have both a good target specificity and a strong immunogenicity．Therefore，it is important to understand the function，structure and mechanism of Wzz for the development and production of glycoconjugates vaccine．