Glucosylated N-acetyllactosamine O-antigen chain in the lipopolysaccharide from Helicobacter pylori strain UA861.

The O-antigen chain from the lipopolysaccharide of Helicobacter pylori strain UA861 was determined to be composed of an elongated type 2 N -acetyllactosamine backbone, -[-->3)-beta-D-Gal-(1-->4)-beta-D-GlcNAc-(1-]n-->, with approximately half of the GlcNAc units carrying a terminal alpha-d-Glc residue at the O -6 position. The O-chain of H.pylori UA861 was terminated by a N -acetyllactosamine [beta-D-Gal-(1-->4)-beta-D-GlcNAc] (LacNAc) epitope and did not express terminal Lewis X or Lewis Y blood-group determinants as previously found in other H.pylori strains. The absence of terminal Lewis X and Lewis Y blood-group epitopes and the replacement of Fuc by Glc as a side chain in the O-chain of H.pylori UA861 represents yet another type of lipopolysaccharide structure from H.pylori species. These structural differences in H.pylori lipopolysaccharide molecules carry implications with regard to possible different pathogenic events between strains and respective hosts.