Antigen presentation. How sweet?!!

Abstract

Thus far, the best-studied and most appreciated biopolymers are the proteins. Although the investigation of proteins has been shown to be necessary for understanding of biological phenomena, more and more evidence shows that biological events cannot be explained solely by the functions of proteins. Fine tuning of the system requires the involvement of other biomolecules, such as carbohydrates and lipids. Key to our specific defense against microbial infections are critical interactions between the specific adaptive and relatively non-specific innate part of the immune response. The most critical link between both parts of the immune system is T cell activation by antigen presentation. This report describes the immunological significant role of bacterial-derived carbohydrate structures in T cell activation, as context of antigens as well as antigen itself. This report will expand the concepts of the role of carbohydrates in microbial interactions with the adaptive immune system.