Occurrence of the human tumor-specific antigen structure Galβ1-3GalNAcα- (Thomsen-Friedenreich) and related structures on gut bacteria: Prevalence, immunochemical analysis and structural confirmation

immunochemically identical to TFα are extremely rare on the surface of human intestinal bacteria and may only be identifiable by binding of both antibodies, NM-TF1 and NM-TF2, which recognize a complete immunomolecular imprint of the TFα structure. The two novel B. ovatus strains isolated in this study may provide a basis for the development of TF-based anti-tumor vaccines.