The mitogenic effect of lipopolysaccharide on bone marrow-derived mouse lymphocytes. Lipid A as the mitogenic part of the molecule.

Lipopolysaccharides with different structure, isolated from different mutant strains of Escherichia coli and Salmonella bacteria, and chemical degradation products of these lipopolysaccharides have been employed to investigate which part of the lipopolysaccharide molecule exerts mitogenic effects on bone marrow-derived mouse lymphocytes. Within the structure of lipopolysaccharide consisting of lipid A, a core polysaccharide, and the O-polysaccharide antigen, lipid A was found to be the mitogenic part. The mitogenic effect of lipid A, consisting of phosphorylated glucosamine disaccharide units with ester- and amide-linked fatty acids, was lost after alkali treatment, which removes ester-linked fatty acids. Insertion of the lipid A portion of lipopolysaccharides into the lipid bilayer of the plasma membranes of bone marrow-derived lymphocytes is discussed as the initial mitogenic action.

Structure of the core oligosaccharide in the lipopolysaccharide isolated from Aeromonas salmonicida ssp. salmonicida.

The core oligosaccharide isolated from the lipopolysaccharide of Aeromonas salmonicida ssp. salmonicida has been investigated by methylation analysis, NMR spectroscopy (13C and 1H), oxidation with periodate and chromium trioxide, and Smith degradation. The following structure is proposed: [Formula: see text]

Electrodialysis of lipopolysaccharides and their conversion to uniform salt forms.

Ions of low molecular weight like metal cations and basic amines are present in lipopolysaccharides regardless of the isolation procedure employed. They are present in salt form with the acidic groups of the molecule and, partly, bound by chelation. Electrodialysis which removed a large proportion of these basic materials led to acidic lipopolysaccharides often with reduced solubility. Electrodialyzed lopopolysaccharides could be rendered soluble by neutralizing with alkali or with a basic amine. Depending on the base employed for neutralization preparations were obtained which showed in water distinct differences in solubility, viscosity and opalescence. These differences were related to differences in the sedimentation coefficients of the various salt forms. Neutralization with triethylamine led in all cases to highly soluble preparations with low sedimentation coefficients, while, on the other hand, neutralization with Mg(OH)2 led in most cases to insoluble preparations. The acidic lipopolysaccharides obtained by electrodialysis deteriorate on storing in a freeze-dried form. On heating in distilled water autohydrolysis occurs and free lipid A is liberated. The lipid A which is so far known as a water-insoluble material showed increased solubility when prepared from electrodialyzed lipopolysaccharides.

The role of the physical state of lipopolysaccharides in the interaction with complement. High molecular weight as prerequisite for the expression of anti-complementary activity.

Lipopolysaccharides interact with complement only when they are present in a state of high aggregation with a high apparent molecular weight. Lipopolysaccharides in uniform salt forms prepared by electrodialysis and neutralization with different bases exhibited distinct differences in their anticomplementary activity which correlated with differences in their sedimentation coefficients. Conversion of smooth (S) form lipopolysaccharides into the low-molecular-weight triethylamine form completely abolished their anti-complementary activity while conversion into the high-molecular-weight sodium form increased their activity. In contrast, a similar treatment of highly defective Re and Rd rough (R) form lipopolysaccharides had no effect on their ability to interact with complement. Both the triethylamine and sodium forms were strongly anti-complementary despite large differences in their molecular weight. This was found to be due to the property of R lipopolysaccharides to reaggregate into a large-molecular-weight form through absorption of Mg2+ and Ca2+ present in the guinea pig serum used as complement source. Defective lipopolysaccharides derived from the Ra and Rb classes showed only negligible anti-complementary activity which did not increase by conversion into salt forms with high molecular weight.

Chemical structure of lipopolysaccharides and endotoxin immunity.

Lipopolysaccharides (endotoxins) of gram-negative bacteria consist of 2 components with distinct physico-chemical character: a heteropolysaccharide and a covalently linked lipid, termed lipid A. The chemical structure of lipid A, which represents the toxic center of lipopolysaccharides, is discussed. Evidence is presented that lipid A antiserum suppresses the pyrogenic effect of lipid A and lipopolysaccharides in rabbits. The protective power of lipid A antiserum, however, is only expressed in animals which have been pretreated with lipid A or lipopolysaccharide indicating that other than humoral factors, perhaps cellular, also participate in endotoxin fever (cross) immunity. The fever resistance mediated by lipid A antiserum seems to be endotoxin-specific with regard to both the preparative and the challenging injection. Lipid A antiserum therefore may serve as a tool to discriminate between fever caused by endotoxins and that induced by other pyrogens.

Isolation of a 3-deoxy-D-mannooctulosonic acid disaccharide from Salmonella minnesota rough-form lipopolysaccharides.

Lipopolysaccharides of Salmonella minnesota rough mutants were treated with 20 mM acetate buffer pH 4.4 at 70 degrees C/3 h. After dialysis of the hydrolysates about one third of the total 3-deoxy-D-mannooctulosonic acid (dOclA) content but no neutral sugars were found in the dialysate. By high-voltage paper electrophoresis, a compound with the mobility of 1.2 relative to dOclA could be isolated from the dialysate. It was identified as a dOclA disaccharide by hydrolysis without or after reduction with sodium borohydride and by analysis with the thiobarbituric acid assay under different conditions. The ketosidic linkage in the disaccharide is assumed to be 2.4 or 2.5.

Preparation and properties of a standardized lipopolysaccharide from salmonella abortus equi (Novo-Pyrexal).

The paper describes the preparation of the lipopolysaccharide from Salmonella abortus equi as obtained by standardized methods. The include the extraction with pehnol/water followed by phenol/chloroform/petroleum ether extraction, ultra-centrifugation, electrodialysis and conversion to the uniform sodium salt form. Chemical composition and physico chemical properties are described. The preparation, which is free from contaminants, was tested for local Shwartzman reactivity, pyrogenicity, lethal toxicity, mitogenicity, reactivity towards complement and tumoricidal action.

In vitro deacylation of lipopolysaccharide of Salmonella minnesota by Acanthamoeba castellanii enzymes.

Enzymatic deacylation of the lipopolysaccharide isolated from a Salmonella Rd mutant by a cell-free preparation from Acanthamoeba castellanii has been studied. The degradation was found to be dependent on the presence of a surface-active component (Triton X-100) in the reaction mixture. The lipid A part of the lipopolysaccharide was the primary target of the enzymes, which cleaved with high efficiency the ester-bound long-chain nonhydroxylated and 3-hydroxylated acyl residues, i.e. lauric, myristic, palmitic and 3-hydroxymyristic acid. The cell-free preparation also exhibited amidase activity cleaving about 50% of the amide-bound 3-hydroxymyristic acid residues. In addition the extract proved to possess phosphatase activity liberating ester-bound and glycosidically bound phosphate groups of lipid A. On the other hand, the glucosaminyl-beta 1,6-glucosamine disaccharide was not degraded and remained bound to the oligosaccharide part (heptose/3-deoxyoctulosonic acid) of the lipopolysaccharide.

Comparison of the capacity of two lipid A precursor molecules to express the local Shwartzman phenomenon.

It has been shown recently that a Salmonella lipid A precursor molecule (Ia) and its synthetic counterpart are inactive in expressing the local Shwartzman reaction in both homologous and heterologous systems in combination with lipid A. Precursor Ia contains a bisphosphoryl-beta-1,6-glucosamine disaccharide substituted by 4 mol of (D)-3-hydroxytetradecanoyl residues. Escherichia coli lipid A, on the other hand, which contains two additional non-hydroxylated acyl residues in the form of two 3-acyloxyacyl units, is highly active. We have recently isolated a lipid A precursor molecule (Ib) with the same basic structure as precursor Ia, which contains, however, one additional non-hydroxylated (hexadecanoic) fatty acid forming one 3-acyloxyacyl residue. A comparison of precursor Ia and Ib in homologous and cross-reacting Shwartzman systems confirmed that precursor Ia completely lacked the capacity to prepare the skin for, or to elicit, the Shwartzman reaction. In contrast, precursor Ib was strongly active in inducing the local Shwartzman reaction both when administered intradermally as a preparatory agent and when administered intravenously as a provocatory agent. The results indicate that the additional presence of at least one fatty acid either as such or as an acyloxyacyl residue (as in precursor Ib) is a prerequisite for the ability of the molecule to induce the local Shwartzman phenomenon.

Nature, type of linkage, and absolute configuration of (hydroxy) fatty acids in lipopolysaccharides from Xanthomonas sinensis and related strains.

The fatty acids present in lipopolysaccharides from Xanthomonas sinensis were identified as decanoic, 9-methyl-decanoic, 2-hydroxy-9-methyl-decanoic, 2-hydroxy-9-methyl-decanoic, D-3-hydroxy-decanoic, D-3-hydroxy-9-methyl-decanoic, D-3-hydroxy-dodecanoic, and D-3-hydroxy-11-methyl-dodecanoic acid. These fatty acids occur in the lipid A component where they are bound through ester and amide linkages to glucosamine residues. All types of fatty acids are ester bound; however, part of D-3-hydroxy-dodecanoic and D-3-hydroxy-11-methyl-dodecanoic acid is also involved in amide linkage. The hydroxyl groups of ester-linked 3-hydroxy fatty acids are not substituted. Similar fatty acid patterns were obtained from lipopolysaccharides of nine other Xanthomonas species.

Free flow electrophoresis as a tool for enrichment of mutants with temperature-dependent lethal mutations in lipid A synthesis.

Free flow electrophoresis was shown to be a useful tool to enrich for mutants conditionally defective in lipid A synthesis. The method was based on the observation that electrophoretic mobility of bacterial cells is dependent on the structure of lipopolysaccharides and is influenced by lesions in the synthesis of the O-specific chains as well as by lesion in the synthesis of the complete 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid (dOclA) lipid A region. Using this procedure a new mutant conditionally defective in dOclA-8-P synthesis was isolated (mutant Ts5). Following a shift to nonpermissive conditions it accumulates a mixture of at least two equally represented lipid A precursor structures. One is made up of glucosamine, phosphate and 3-hydroxymyristic acid in a molar ratio 1.0:1.0:2.0 and lacks dOclA and the nonhydroxylated fatty acids lauric, myristic and palmitic acid. The precursor preparation derived from mutant Ts5 thus differs from previously described lipid A intermediates by the relatively high substitution by palmitic acid. The implications of the above findings to the biosynthesis of lipid A are discussed.

Surface carbohydrate composition of murine thymocytes and of lymph node cells from normal and athymic (nude) mice.

Surface glycoproteins (papain digests) have been isolated from lymph node cells of normal mice which contain mainly T cells, and from lymph node cells of nude (athymic) mice, which essentially represent B cells. Gaschromatographic analysis revealed that the glycoproteins from the lymph node cells of the euthymic mice contain less galactose than the glycoproteins from lymph node cells of the athymic mice, but contain still more galactose than glycoproteins from thymocytes. Lymph node cells from both sources contain about equal amounts of neuraminic acid, while thymocytes contain slightly less sialic acid. The observed differences provide a molecular explanation for the different reactivity of murine B cells and T cells towards soybean agglutinine and other galactose-binding plant lectins.