mBio (Feb 2021)

Exploring the Impact of Ketodeoxynonulosonic Acid in Host-Pathogen Interactions Using Uptake and Surface Display by Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae

  • Sudeshna Saha,
  • Alison Coady,
  • Aniruddha Sasmal,
  • Kunio Kawanishi,
  • Biswa Choudhury,
  • Hai Yu,
  • Ricardo U. Sorensen,
  • Jaime Inostroza,
  • Ian C. Schoenhofen,
  • Xi Chen,
  • Anja Münster-Kühnel,
  • Chihiro Sato,
  • Ken Kitajima,
  • Sanjay Ram,
  • Victor Nizet,
  • Ajit Varki

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.03226-20
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1

Abstract

Read online

All cells in vertebrates are coated with a dense array of glycans often capped with sugars called sialic acids. Sialic acids have many functions, including serving as a signal for recognition of “self” cells by the immune system, thereby guiding an appropriate immune response against foreign “nonself” and/or damaged cells.