PURIFICATION OF TYPE-5 CAPSULAR POLYSACCHARIDE FROM STAPHYLOCOCCUS-AUREUS BY A SIMPLE EFFICIENT METHOD

Types 5 and 8 Staphylococcus aureus capsular polysaccharides are now considered as potential candidates for vaccination against human and animal infections. In order to get sufficient amounts of capsular polysaccharide for this use, we describe a new simple efficient purification method of type 5 capsular polysaccharide. After extraction of capsular polysaccharide from S. aureus Reynolds strain by autoclaving, the successive steps were ultrafiltration with a 30 kDa cutoff hollowfiber cartridge, treatment by sodium metaperiodate, ultrafiltration with a 100 kDa cutoff hollowfiber cartridge and high-performance size exclusion liquid chromatography. Approximatively 85% of the polysaccharide initially extracted was recovered and contaminating components represented 4.2% of the purified fraction.