Existence of branched side chains in the cell wall mannan of pathogenic yeast, Candida albicans. Structure-antigenicity relationship between the cell wall mannans of Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis.

Isolation of side chain oligosaccharides from mannans of Candida albicans NIH B-792 (serotype B) and Candida parapsilosis IFO 1396 strains has been conducted by acetolysis under mild conditions. Structural study of these oligosaccharides by 1H and 13C NMR and methylation analyses indicated the presence of novel branched side chains with the following structures in C. albicans mannan. [sequence: see text] It was observed that the H-1 proton chemical shifts of the second and the third mannose units from the reducing terminus in each oligosaccharide are shifted upfield by substitution with an alpha-linked mannose unit at position 6 of the 3-O-substituted mannose unit. An agglutination inhibition assay between factor 4 serum and cells of Candida stellatoidea IFO 1397 lacking the beta-1,2-linked mannose unit, with oligosaccharides obtained from these mannans, indicated that only the branched oligosaccharides were active. This finding suggests that the branched oligosaccharides correspond to the epitope of antigenic factor 4. The presence of the branched structure in other mannans was detected by the characteristic H-1-H-2-correlated cross-peak of the alpha-1,2-linked mannose unit connected with the 3,6-di-O-substituted one by two-dimensional homonuclear Hartmann-Hahn spectroscopy.