Recent advances on the syntheses of oligosaccharides and the corresponding glycoconjugates towards development of vaccine candidates against invasive Neisseria meningitidis strains.

NEISSERIA MENINGITIDIS: (Men) is one of the reasons of meningitis and sepsis worldwide. Mainly affected groups are children below five years and adolescents. Out of thirteen different Men-serogroups, disease causing invasive ones are the following six groups: A, B, C, W, X and Y. Epidemics and outbreaks by Men-strains are also reported to occur in several countries around the world. Based on the capsular polysaccharides of Men-strains (A, C, W and Y) conjugated with carrier proteins [Diphtheria toxoid (DT), CRM197 (a non-toxic mutant of DT) or Tetanus toxoid (TT)], several mono- and multi-valent vaccines were developed and licensed, which are still being used. Vaccines in the market against serogroup B are derived from MenB-proteins. Apart from these, several synthetic or semi-synthetic glycoconjugate-vaccine candidates against the disease-causing Men-serogroups are still under development or under pre-clinical or clinical trials. This minireview will encompass an overview mainly of the chemical syntheses of such semi-synthetic or synthetic glycoconjugates as Men-vaccine candidates.