Ribitol phosphate

FIGURE 9.25 Teichoic acids are covalently linked to the peptidoglycan of Grampositive bacteria. These polymers of (a, b) glycerol phosphate or (c) ribitol phosphate are linked by phosphodiester bonds. 

Several of the intracellular teichoic acids are polymers of glycerol phosphate or ribitol phosphate. An unusual teichoic acid, composed of d-mannitol phosphate, and with pyruvic acid linked as an acetal to 0-4 and 0-5, has been isolated from Brevibacterium iodinum. ... 

The isomerism existing between the pairs of nucleotides was attributed to the different locations of the phosphoryl residues in the carbohydrate part of the parent nucleoside,49 63 since, for instance, the isomeric adenylic acids are both hydrolyzed by acids to adenine, and by alkalis or kidney phosphatase to adenosine. Neither is identical with adenosine 5-phosphate since they are not deaminated by adenylic-acid deaminase,68 60 and are both more labile to acids than is muscle adenylic acid. An alternative explanation of the isomerism was put forward by Doherty.61 He was able, by a process of transglycosidation, to convert adenylic acids a" and 6 to benzyl D-riboside phosphates which were then hydrogenated to optically inactive ribitol phosphates. He concluded from this that both isomers are 3-phosphates and that the isomerism is due to different configurations at the anomeric position. This evidence is, however, open to the same criticism detailed above in connection with the work of Levene and coworkers. Further work has amply justified the original conclusion regarding the nature of the isomerism, since it has been found that, in all four cases, a and 6 isomers give rise to the same nucleoside on enzymic hydrolysis.62 62 63 It was therefore evident that the isomeric nucleotides are 2- and 3-phosphates, since they are demonstrably different from the known 5-phosphates. The decision as to which of the pair is the 2- and which the 3-phosphate proved to be a difficult one. The problem is complicated by the fact that the a and b" nucleotides are readily interconvertible.64,64... 

A repeating unit for S6 was proposed by Rebers and Heidelberger,29 as discussed in Ref. 1. The only features not determined were the structure and configuration of a ribitol phosphate moiety. From biosynthetic considerations,6 the phosphate group should be linked to 0-5 of D-ribitol, and the structure should, therefore, be that depicted in 10. 

The phosphate of ethylene glycol must derive from the ribitol phosphate moiety, which consequently is phosphorylated at a primary position, assumed to be 0-5 of (pro-D)-ribitol for biosynthetic reasons. In the proposed structure for the S10A repeating-unit (14), the anomeric natures of the sugar residues were not determined. The optical rotations of S10A and the hexasaccharide, [a]D +12° and +11°, respectively, indicate that they contain both a- and /3-D-linked sugar residues. 

Traces of an optically active anhydroribitol and its phosphates are produced when some teichoic acids are hydrolyzed with alkali.66 67 No anhydroribitol is formed by similar treatment of ribitol, its 1-, 2-, or 3-phosphates, or ribitol 1,5-diphosphate.68 However, small proportions of anhydroribitol and its phosphates are produced by the action of alkali on a synthetic poly (ribitol phosphate) prepared by the action of diphenyl phosphoro-chloridate oil 3,4-O-isopropylideneribitol l-phosphate and 2-phosphate.68 This observation suggests that 1,4-anhydroribitol (13) or its derivatives (15) are produced by fission of a phosphodiester, for example (14), in the manner indicated in Fig. 3, and that this reaction occurs together... 

The proportion of 1,4-anhydroribitol formed by treatment of teichoic acids and synthetic poly(ribitol phosphate) with alkali is small, and the major hydrolytic pathway involves the cyclic phosphate sequence. No 1,4-anhydroribitol glycosides have been observed in the alkaline hydrolyzates of teichoic acids possibly, the presence of a glycosyl substituent makes the reaction sterically less favorable than when such substituents are absent. 

The production of ribitol diphosphates on acid hydrolysis, and also on alkaline hydrolysis, of the product obtained after oxidation of the teichoic acid with periodate establishes the presence of ribitol phosphate residues joined to each other through phosphodiester groups. On oxidation of the polymer (o-alanine removed) with periodate, many of the ribitol residues were oxidized, and the quantitative data obtained support a structure in which there are 7-8 units in the chain. 

Poly(ribitol phosphate) synthetase has been found in particulate fractions from Staphylococcus aureus H, and Lactobacillus plantatrum.lt ll-m The bulk of the activity in Lactobacillus plantarum was in crude, cell-wall preparations, and the enzyme is apparently located in the membrane, although intimate association with the wall itself has been suggested. Unlike the natural teichoic acid, the enzymically synthesized ribitol phosphate polymer was readily extracted with phenol hydrolysis by acid and by alkali gave the expected products, and oxidation with periodate indicated a chain length of 5-9 units, a value which compares well with that of 8 units for the natural polymer in the walls of this organism. 

Synthetic ribitol phosphate polymer, unlike teichoic acid in a wall, is readily extracted from the particulate enzyme or membrane preparation by treatment with phenol.18 Similarly, teichoic acid synthesized by intact cells in the presence of penicillin is only loosely attached to the wall,111 and it may be significant that, in each case, synthesis of teichoic acid has occurred without the simultaneous synthesis of glycosaminopeptide. It is now known that, in the normal wall, teichoic acid and glycosaminopeptide are attached to each other, and it has been suggested that the low activity of cell-free synthetase is due to the absence of suitable acceptor molecules of glycosaminopeptide. This possibility could account for the ease of removal of teichoic acid formed when simultaneous synthesis of glycosaminopeptide was not possible. 

The poly (ribitol phosphate) synthetase and poly (glycerol phosphate) synthetase are inhibited by vancomycin, novobiocin, and Crystal Violet. Other antibiotic substances which interfere with cell-wall synthesis (such as bacitracin, ristocetin, and streptomycin) are almost without effect on the isolated synthetases, and penicillin is inhibitory at high concentrations only. Moreover, penicillin, vancomycin, and bacitracin do not markedly inhibit synthesis of cell-wall glycosaminopeptide in vitro, although the synthetical activity of extracts of cells which have been pretreated with these antibiotics is lowered.Convincing evidence that the primary site of inhibition by antibiotics is the biosynthesis of cell-wall material has been obtained only for the penicillins and cycloserine, and it appears that the action of even those antibiotics may be more complex than was originally supposed. 

The exterior surface of Gram-positive bacteria is covered by teichoic acids. These are ribitol-phosphate or glycerol-phosphate polymer chains that are frequently substituted by alanine and glycosidically linked monosaccharides (Figure A2.4). They are attached to the peptidoglycan by a phosphate diester link. Teichoic acids can act as receptors to bacteriophages and some appear to have antigenic properties. 

Staphylococcus aureus Bacillus pumilis Bacillus subtilis Lactobacillus plantarum OH teichoic acids containing ribitol phosphate 7... 

The action of ammonia on cytidine ribitol pyrophosphate (III) gave a cyclic phosphate IX which was oxidized by periodate and bromine to yield X, the cyclic 2,3-0-phosphate of glyceronic acid. This substance was purified by paper chromatography, and hydrolyzed with acid to the 2-phos-phate (XI) and 3-phosphate (XII) of D-glyceronic acid. These substances were utilized by a multi-enzyme system from rabbit muscle which degrades carbohydrates by way of the Embden-Meyerhof pathway. The ribitol phosphate (VII) is therefore L-ribitol 1-phosphate (o-ribitol 5-phosphate). ... 

Acid hydrolysis of cytidine ribitol pyrophosphate led to a series of products, depending on the conditions of hydrolysis. L-Ribitol 1-phosphate (n-ribitol 5-phosphate), isomeric ribitol phosphates formed by acid-catalyzed migration of the phosphate group from the terminal position, and 1,4-anhydro-DL-ribitol were isolated. 

Working on this assumption, Baddiley and coworkers discovered a new group of polymers which they have named teichoic acids. These are mainly located in the cell wall and are polymers of ribitol phosphate or of glyceritol phosphate. ... 

Dual-chamber syringe. For delivery of two established vaccines (e.g., polyribosyl ribitol phosphate conjugated to tetanus toxoid and diphtheria-tetanus-whole cell pertussis and inactivated poliovirus vaccine) at the same time, a dual-chamber syringe delivery system can be used. The proximal chamber may contain a vaccine in the freeze-dried solid state, and the distal chamber contains a vaccine in the liquid formulation that allows reconstitution of the vaccine in the proximal chamber. The immune response by the dualchamber delivery of vaccination was equivalent to that by the separate-injection method of vaccination. The dual-chamber syringe can be used for safe and effective delivery of two different vaccines that are not yet available as a single formulation for pediatric applications. ... 

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