jejuni 11168, lectins that recognise structures similar or identical to those recognised by C. jejuni, can be used to inhibit adherence to the surface of Caco-2 cells [3]. For the adherence inhibition assays, using both lectins

and free glycans, C. jejuni was grown at 37°C in a microaerobic environment, mimicking one of the growth conditions used in glycan arrays assays. Two lectins were tested; ConA (mannose binding lectin) and UEA-I (fucose binding lectin). As predicted from the array results, ConA had the greatest inhibitory effects on the adherence of C. jejuni 81116 and 331 with reductions of more than 70%, no significant difference was GF120918 mw observed MAPK inhibitor for the other strains tested (Figure 1A). UEA-I resulted in significant reduction in adherence for all strains tested but did not affect the adherence of the control

E. coli DH5a strain (Figure 1B). Figure 1 Lectin and free glycan competition assays. Comparison between normal adherence (100%) and inhibition with lectin or glycan pre-treatment. The smaller the bar the less C. jejuni adhered in the presence of the lectin/glycan. A. ConA competition of C. jejuni adherence to Caco-2 cells; B. UEA-I competition of C. jejuni adherence to Caco-2 cells. C. Competion assays with free glycans with C. jejuni 11168 and 331 adhering to Caco-2 cells. Free glycans were ACP-196 in vitro also tested on the adherence of two C. jejuni strains; the clinical isolate 11168 and the chicken isolate 331. Using 100 μM of free blood group antigens, A blood group trisaccharide (glycan 7 K on the array) and the H disaccharide (O-blood group antigen; glycan 7 F on the array), resulted in the significant decrease of adherence of both C. jejuni 11168 (P < 0.05) and 331 (P < 0.05) to Caco-2 cells (Figure 1C). Free mannose (α1-2 Mannobiose at 100 μM; glycan 5C on the array) had no effect on the binding of C. jejuni 11168 to Caco-2 cells but did significantly reduce the adherence of C. jejuni 331 (P < 0.05; Figure 1C). This result is in agreement with the array data, with both strains binding blood group antigens but only C. jejuni

331 recognising mannose under the condition tested (Table 2). Discussion All C. jejuni strains tested in this study showed remarkable similarity for the Decitabine manufacturer general types of glycan structures that were recognised. Looking globally at the total array, C. jejuni behaves as a species with little variation, each strain bound to both α and β galactose, terminal and subterminal fucosylated structures and to a subset of glycoaminoglycans at all conditions tested. All strains also exhibited binding to a broader range of glycans when placed under environmental stress. Only chitin, a common insect and crustacean glycan, showed major differences when viewed from a global perspective, with one strain, C. jejuni 11168, failing to recognise any chitin molecule. No major difference was observed between C. jejuni strains isolated from different hosts.