Development of a novel ?-1,6-glucan-specific detection system using functionally-modified recombinant endo-?-1,6-glucanase.
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ABSTRACT: ?-1,3-d-Glucan is a ubiquitous glucose polymer produced by plants, bacteria, and most fungi. It has been used as a diagnostic tool in patients with invasive mycoses via a highly-sensitive reagent consisting of the blood coagulation system of horseshoe crab. However, no method is currently available for measuring ?-1,6-glucan, another primary ?-glucan structure of fungal polysaccharides. Herein, we describe the development of an economical and highly-sensitive and specific assay for ?-1,6-glucan using a modified recombinant endo-?-1,6-glucanase having diminished glucan hydrolase activity. The purified ?-1,6-glucanase derivative bound to the ?-1,6-glucan pustulan with a KD of 16.4 nm We validated the specificity of this ?-1,6-glucan probe by demonstrating its ability to detect cell wall ?-1,6-glucan from both yeast and hyphal forms of the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans, without any detectable binding to glucan lacking the long ?-1,6-glucan branch. We developed a sandwich ELISA-like assay with a low limit of quantification for pustulan (1.5 pg/ml), and we successfully employed this assay in the quantification of extracellular ?-1,6-glucan released by >250 patient-derived strains of different Candida species (including Candida auris) in culture supernatant in vitro We also used this assay to measure ?-1,6-glucan in vivo in the serum and in several organs in a mouse model of systemic candidiasis. Our work describes a reliable method for ?-1,6-glucan detection, which may prove useful for the diagnosis of invasive fungal infections.
SUBMITTER: Yamanaka D
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7170528 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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