Immunoreactivity of neoglycolipids constructed from oligomannosidic residues of the Candida albicans cell wall.

To establish a model to study the immunoreactivity of oligosaccharidic structures from the Candida albicans cell wall, we attempted to construct neoglycolipids with these residues by using oligomannosides released after mild acid hydrolysis of the phosphopeptidomannans isolated from yeast forms. From a mixture of manno-oligosaccharides ranging from mannobiose to mannononaose, the structure of a quantitatively major component (mannotriose) was determined to be Man (beta 1-2) Man (beta 1-2) Man alpha by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. After coupling of the pool of oligosaccharides to a lipid (4-hexadecylaniline), the synthesized molecules were injected into mice and rats. Antibody responses were detected on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay plates coated with either phosphopeptidomannans or neoglycolipids. The hybrid molecules exhibited both immunogenicity and antigenicity. The kinetics of antibody responses as well as immunofluorescence patterns observed on whole C. albicans cells strongly mimicked results from the immunization of animals with natural antigens. Construction of neoglycolipids could therefore provide an interesting approach to the study of specific oligosaccharides of C. albicans and their recognition by the host immune system.