Glycan arrays containing synthetic Clostridium difficile lipoteichoic acid oligomers as tools toward a carbohydrate vaccine.

Clostridium difficile is a leading cause of severe nosocomial infections. Cell-surface carbohydrate antigens are promising vaccine candidates. Here we report the first total synthesis of oligomers of the lipoteichoic acid antigen repeating unit. Synthetic glycan microarrays revealed anti-glycan antibodies in the blood of patients that help to define epitopes for vaccine development.