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Glycosylinositolphosphoceramides in Aspergillus fumigatus.

Simenel C, Coddeville B, Delepierre M, Latgé JP, Fontaine T

Unité de Résonance Magnétique Nucléaire des Biomolécules, CNRS URA 2185 Institut Pasteur, 25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France.

Fungal glycosylinositolphosphoceramides (GIPCs) are involved in cell growth and fungal-host interactions. In this study, six GIPCs from the mycelium of the human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus were purified and characterized using Q-TOF mass spectrometry and 1H, 13C, and 31P NMR. All structures have the same inositolphosphoceramide moiety with the presence of a C(18:0)-phytosphingosine conjugated to a 2-hydroxylated saturated fatty acid (2-hydroxy-lignoceric acid). The carbohydrate moiety defines two types of GIPC. The first, a mannosylated zwitterionic glycosphingolipid contains a glucosamine residue linked in alpha1-2 to an inositol ring that has been described in only two other fungal pathogens. The second type of GIPC presents an alpha-Manp-(1-->3)-alpha-Manp-(1-->2)-IPC common core. A galactofuranose residue is found in four GIPC structures, mainly at the terminal position via a beta1-2 linkage. Interestingly, this galactofuranose residue could be substituted by a choline-phosphate group, as observed only in the GIPC of Acremonium sp., a plant pathogen.

Published 20 December 2007 in Glycobiology, 18(1): 84-96.
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