ABSTRACT
Bacterial infection typically begins by the pathogen adhering to host tissue through the action of one or more cell-surface molecules called adhesins (Ofek and Doyle 1994). Adhesion permits the bacterium to withstand tissue cleansing processes, enhances access to local nutrients, and allows wandering pathogens to begin colonization. Bacterial adhesins recognize a variety of host tissues through interactions with different cell-surface targets. One important group of targets for bacterial adhesins are saccharides (glycans) that are displayed on a wide range of host glycoproteins and glycolipids. Carbohydrate-binding adhesins are often referred to as lectins as they contain one or more carbohydrate-binding (or lectin type) domains. Among the many carbohydrate tissue determinants, human blood group and related saccharides are known targets for bacterial adhesion of important human bacterial pathogens (examples of bacterial pathogens that recognize blood group related glycans are Helicobacter pylori (Lindén et al. 2008, Ishijima et al. 2011), Escherichia coli (Lund et al. 1987, Hung et al. 2002), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Gilboagarber et al. 1994, Chemani et al. 2009)). The role of carbohydrate binding by bacterial lectins in respiratory infection is illustrated in Fig. 1.
