Glycomic analysis reveals a conserved response to bacterial sepsis induced by different bacterial pathogens.
Sepsis is an extreme inflammatory response to infection (bacterial, viral, fungal) that occurs in the bloodstream and causes damage throughout the body. Currently, there are few diagnostic biomarkers of sepsis and new effective treatments have not been developed. There is a clear need to study the molecular underpinnings of this disease. Glycosylation is known to play a role in immunity and inflammation, but the role of glycans in sepsis is not well defined. Herein, we profiled the serum glycomes of experimental mouse sepsis models to identify changes induced by 4 different clinical bacterial pathogens (Gram-positive: Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Gram-negative: Escherichia coli and Salmonella Typhimurium) using our lectin microarray technology. We observed global shifts in the blood sera glycome that were conserved across all four species, regardless of whether they were Gram positive or negative. Bisecting GlcNAc was decreased upon sepsis and a strong increase in core 1/3 O-glycans was observed. Lectin blot analysis revealed a high molecular weight protein induced in sepsis by all four bacteria as the major cause of the core 1/3 O-glycan shift. While the identity of this protein remains to be elucidated, its presence indicates a common feature of bacterial sepsis associated with this glycomic signature.