Sulfated motifs in heparan sulfate inhibit Streptococcus pneumoniae adhesion onto fibronectin and attenuate corneal infection

Abstract A large number of bacterial pathogens bind to host extracellular matrix (ECM) components. For example, many Gram‐negative and Gram‐positive pathogens express binding proteins for fibronectin (FN) on their cell surface. Mutagenesis studies of bacterial FN‐binding proteins have demonstrated their importance in pathogenesis in preclinical animal models. However, means to draw on these findings to design therapeutic approaches that specifically target FN‐bacteria interactions have not been successful because bacterial pathogens can elaborate several FN‐binding proteins and also because FN is an essential protein and likely a nondruggable target. Here we report that select heparan compounds potently inhibit Streptococcus pneumoniae infection of injured corneas in mice. Using intact heparan sulfate (HS) and heparin (HP), heparinase‐digested fragments of HS, HP oligosaccharides, and chemically or chemoenzymatically modified heparan compounds, we found that inhibition of S. pneumoniae corneal infection by heparan compounds is not mediated by simple charge effects but by a selective sulfate group. Removal of 2‐ O ‐sulfates significantly inhibited the ability of HP to inhibit S. pneumoniae corneal infection, whereas the addition of 2‐ O ‐sulfates to heparosan (H) significantly increased H's ability to inhibit bacterial corneal infection. Proximity ligation assays indicated that S. pneumoniae attaches directly to FN fibrils in the corneal epithelial ECM and that HS and HP specifically inhibit this binding interaction in a 2‐ O ‐sulfate‐dependent manner. These data suggest that heparan compounds containing 2‐ O ‐sulfate groups protect against S. pneumoniae corneal infection by inhibiting bacterial attachment to FN fibrils in the subepithelial ECM of injured corneas. Moreover, 2‐ O ‐sulfated heparan compounds significantly inhibited corneal infection in immunocompromised hosts, by a clinical keratitis isolate of S. pneumoniae , and also when topically administered in a therapeutic manner. These findings suggest that the administration of nonanticoagulant 2‐ O ‐sulfated heparan compounds may represent a plausible approach to the treatment of S. pneumoniae keratitis.