Moreover, an understanding of the factors that enable antibodies to distinguish among glycoproteins is essential to the rational development of vaccines. Elucidating the conformational properties of glycoproteins and their carbohydrate components is key to this understanding. Traditional experimental techniques that have been successfully applied to proteins have not been able to determine conclusively the conformational properties of glycoproteins. All these interatomic interactions must be adequately described in order to arrive at an accurate prediction of an oligosaccharide s conformational preferences. Moreover, the structure may need to be described as an ensemble of conformations rather than as a single conformation, accounting for both spatial and temporal properties of the oligosaccharide.
Simulations are in no way constrained to reproduce the experimental data.
Carbohydrate antigens associated with Salmonella paratyphi B and group B Streptococcus are being studied to understand the energetic contributions hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions make to antibody binding energy. Dr. Woods s research is supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.