Haptenic oligosaccharides in antigenic variants of mycobacterial C-mycosides antagonize lipid receptor activity for mycobacteriophage D4 by masking a methylated rhamnose.

The simple apolar C-mycosides, i.e., structurally well-defined hydrophobic glycopeptidolipids of several Mycobacterium species (see diagram below), were earlier shown to behave as receptors for adsorption of mycobacteriophage D4. This phage is usually virulent for Mycobacterium smegmatis. More complex, polar C-mycosides with additional carbohydrate substituents attached solely to the deoxytalose have recently been described. They are the highly specific serotyping antigens discovered by W. B. Schaefer--lipids which characterize members of the Mycobacterium avium-Mycobacterium intracellulare-Mycobacterium scrofulaceum (MAIS) complex. Both kinds are depicted in the structure below: (Formula: see text) where X equals H (for simple, apolar C-mycosides) and X equals small oligosaccharides (for antigenic forms; more complex, polar C-mycosides). The present investigations showed that the purified polar antigenic lipids exhibit considerably less adsorptive activity for D4 than do the apolar C-mycosides. Thus, the haptenic oligosaccharides are believed to shield the site in the molecule that the phage recognizes, and the blocking is reinforced by the specific antibodies that the antigens elicit. Although the MAIS serovars usually also produce the phage-reactive apolar C-mycosides, they are not permissive hosts for D4, nor do whole cells adsorb the phage. We suggest that in these species the apolar forms are probably "covered" at the cell surface by the antigenic lipids. Therefore, these antigenic mycosides may play a putative role in virulence of the MAIS members by protecting these mycobacteria from their own potential pathogen. The results of chemical transformations at specific sites of the mycoside core coupled with studies of simple synthetic lipid glycosides indicated that the principal phage receptor activity resides in the terminal methylated rhamnose (see diagram). It is this sugar which is evidently masked by the (seemingly remote) haptenic oligosaccharides.