[The use of synthetic glycoconjugates as components of the immunochromatographic test for rapid serological diagnosis of leprosy.]

The glycoconjugates with BSA (bovine serum albumin) were synthesized using a next saccharide: disaccharide derivative M.leprae PGL-1 (phenolic glycolipid-1); a complex of the disaccharide fragment and the branched hexasaccharide fragment LAM (lipoarabinomannan); diarabinofuranose fragment LAM. These glycoconjugates were used as antigenic components for leprosy rapid serotest construction in immunochromatographic format (leprosy LF serotest). The data obtained with sera of leprosy patients, patients who have been in contact with leprosy, and healthy donors indicate that the most promising antigenic component is a BSA conjugate with two synthetic epitopes - a disaccharide derivative of PGL-1 and a branched hexasaccharide fragment of LAM. The leprosy LF serotest with such glycoconjugate demonstrated the greatest diagnostic sensitivity for main forms of leprosy - paucibacillary (PB) and multibacillary (MB).

Recent advances in mycobacterial cell wall glycan biosynthesis.

The cell wall of mycobacteria, including the causative agents of the human diseases tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and leprosy (M. leprae), is composed of an array of carbohydrate-containing molecules. These glycoconjugates are assembled by glycosyltransferases (GTs) that work in tandem through pathways that are only now beginning to be fully understood. Given the essentiality of cell wall glycans to mycobacterial viability, these enzymes represent novel targets for drug action. Summarized here are recent genetic and biochemical studies leading to the identification and characterization of mycobacterial GTs.