Structure of an atypical O-antigen polysaccharide of Helicobacter pylori containing a novel monosaccharide 3-C-methyl-D-mannose.

Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) were isolated by hot phenol-water extraction from Danish Helicobacter pylori strains D1, D3, and D6, which were nontypeable using a variety of anti-Lewis and anti-blood-group monoclonal antibodies. An atypical O-chain polysaccharide (PS) was liberated from the LPS of the three strains by acid under mild conditions and found to contain D-rhamnose (D-Rha), L-rhamnose (L-Rha), and a branched sugar, 3-C-methyl-D-mannose (D-Man3CMe). The last sugar, which has not hitherto been found in Nature, was identified using GLC-MS of the derived alditol acetate and the partially methylated alditol acetate, and (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy, including NOESY and (1)H,(13)C HMBC experiments. The following structure of the trisaccharide repeating unit of the PS was established: -->2)-alpha-D-Manp3CMe-(1-->3)-alpha-L-Rhap-(1-->3)-alpha-D- Rhap-(1-- >. In contrast to the pathogenic importance of the Lewis antigen mimicry exhibited by the PS of H. pylori strains previously investigated, the biological relevance of the atypical PS for H. pylori pathogenesis is unclear. The production of a differing surface PS may represent a form of antigenic variation by these particular H. pylori strains and/or may reflect the adaptation of these strains to a particular human population.