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Updated: Sep 9, 2025

Characterization of Inflammatory Responses During Intranasal Colonization with Streptococcus pneumoniae
Published on: January 17, 2014
Bordetellae colonization oligosaccharide (b-Cool), a glycan crucial for nasal colonization
Yang Su1,2, Maiya Callender3, Dylan Woolsey2
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Abstract:
Respiratory tract infections pose considerable global health challenges. Upper airway colonization is pivotal to these infections, including those caused by Bordetella species. We identified an oligosaccharide, bordetellae colonization oligosaccharide (b-Cool), crucial for early nasal colonization of Bordetella bronchiseptica. We characterized the structure of b-Cool by LC-MS and NMR and found that it is prevalent across a diverse range of bordetellae, including Bordetella pertussis, which causes whooping cough in humans. A B. bronchiseptica mutant lacking b-Cool (Δb-Cool) showed significantly delayed and decreased colonization in mouse nasopharynx and nasal epithelia, resulting in decreased transmission. The colonization defect of Δb-Cool was rescued in mucin deficient mice, suggesting that b-Cool may facilitate colonization in the presence of airway mucins.
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