Karlsson K A, Angström J, Bergström J, Lanne B
Department of Medical Biochemistry, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
APMIS Suppl. 1992;27:71-83.
Microbes have selected primarily carbohydrates for attachment to host animal cells. Recent studies have revealed essential characteristics in the recognition of receptor carbohydrates. Of importance is the property of recognizing also sequences placed inside an oligosaccharide chain, which differs from most animal antibodies. This is the basis for series of isoreceptors with the minimum receptor sequence in common but with separate neighbouring groups. There are families of microbial ligands that show different preferences for members within one series of isoreceptors, indicating only slight differences in the complementary binding sites of the proteins. Such differences may explain shifts in the selectivity of separate host tissues for infection. A second characteristic is the low affinity interaction often found where simple receptor-containing saccharides are unable to inhibit attachment. Technical possibilities are rapidly developing for the design of synthetic receptor analogues to be used in the therapy of clinical infections. This is urgently needed in cases where no rational therapy exists today.
微生物主要选择碳水化合物来附着于宿主动物细胞。最近的研究揭示了识别受体碳水化合物的基本特征。重要的是，微生物还能识别位于寡糖链内部的序列，这与大多数动物抗体不同。这是一系列异受体的基础，这些异受体具有共同的最小受体序列，但相邻基团不同。存在一些微生物配体家族，它们对同一系列异受体中的成员表现出不同的偏好，这表明蛋白质的互补结合位点仅有细微差异。这些差异可能解释了不同宿主组织对感染的选择性变化。第二个特征是，在简单的含受体糖类无法抑制附着的情况下，常常会发现低亲和力相互作用。用于临床感染治疗的合成受体类似物的设计技术可能性正在迅速发展。在目前尚无合理治疗方法的情况下，这是迫切需要的。
