Asymmetric Total Synthesis of Mycobacterial Diacyl Trehaloses Demonstrates a Role for Lipid Structure in Immunogenicity.

The first asymmetric total synthesis of three structures proposed for mycobacterial diacyl trehaloses, DAT1, DAT2 and DAT3 is reported. The presence of two of these glycolipids, DAT1 and DAT3, within different strains of pathogenic M. tuberculosis was confirmed, and it was shown that their abundance varies significantly. In mass spectrometry, synthetic DAT2 possessed nearly identical fragmentation patterns to presumptive DAT2 from M. tuberculosis H37Rv, but did not co-elute by HPLC, raising questions as the precise relationship of the synthetic and natural materials. The synthetic DATs were examined as agonists for signaling by the C-type lectin, Mincle. The small differences in the chemical structure of the lipidic parts of DAT1, DAT2 and DAT3 led to drastic differences of Mincle binding and activation, with DAT3 showing similar potency as the known Mincle agonist trehalose dimycolate (TDM). In the future, DAT3 could serve as basis for the design of vaccine adjuvants with simplified chemical structure.