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Glycobiology Advance Access originally published online on August 22, 2008
Glycobiology 2008 18(11):832-841; doi:10.1093/glycob/cwn076
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Review

The mycobacterial glycopeptidolipids: structure, function, and their role in pathogenesis

Jeffrey S Schorey1 and Lindsay Sweet

Department of Biological Sciences, Eck Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed: Tel: +1-574-631-3734; Fax: +1-574-631-7413; e-mail: Schorey.1{at}nd.edu

Received on April 7, 2008; revised on August 4, 2008; accepted on August 5, 2008

Glycopeptidolipids (GPLs) are a class of glycolipids produced by several nontuberculosis-causing members of the Mycobacterium genus including pathogenic and nonpathogenic species. GPLs are expressed in different forms with production of highly antigenic, typeable serovar-specific GPLs in members of the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC). M. avium and M. intracellulare, which comprise this complex, are slow-growing mycobacteria noted for producing disseminated infections in AIDS patients and pulmonary infections in non-AIDS patients. Previous studies have defined the gene cluster responsible for GPL biosynthesis and more recent work has characterized the function of the individual genes. Current research has also focused on the GPL's role in colony morphology, sliding motility, biofilm formation, immune modulation and virulence. These topics, along with new information on the enzymes involved in GPL biosynthesis, are the subject of this review.

Key words: biofilm / GPL / morphology / mycobacteria / review


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