Oligosaccharide-derivatized dendrimers: defined multivalent inhibitors of the adherence of the cholera toxin B subunit and the heat labile enterotoxin of E. coli to GM1.

Poly(propylene imine) dendrimers having four or eight primary amino groups and a Starburst (PAMAM) dendrimer having eight primary amino groups were used as core molecules, to which phenylisothiocyanate derivatized (PITC) galbeta1-3galNAcbeta1-4[sialic acid alpha2-3]-galbeta1-4glc (oligo-GM1) residues were covalently attached to yield multivalent oligosaccharides. The synthesis of the oligo-GM1-PITC derivatized dendrimers was monitored using high performance thin layer chromatography, infrared spectroscopy, sialic acid content, and mass spectroscopy. The ability of multivalent oligo-GM1-PITC dendrimers to inhibit the binding of 125I-labeled cholera toxin B subunit and the heat labile enterotoxin of E. coli to GM1-coated microtiter wells was determined. IC50s obtained for the oligo-GM1-PITC dendrimers, GM1, and the oligosaccharide moiety of GM1 indicated that the derivatized dendrimers inhibited binding of the choleragenoid and the heat labile enterotoxin to GM1-coated wells at a molar concentration five- to 15-fold lower than native GM1 and more than 1,000-fold lower than that of the free oligosaccharide.