TLR4 Mutants That Affect Recognition of B. pertussis Lipid A [Microbiology]

Lipid A in LPS activates innate immunity through the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-MD-2 complex on host cells. Variation in lipid A has significant consequences for TLR4 activation and thus may be a means by which Gram-negative bacteria modulate host immunity. However, although even minor changes in lipid A structure have been shown to affect downstream immune responses, the mechanism by which the TLR4-MD-2 receptor complex recognizes these changes is not well understood. We previously showed that strain BP338 of the human pathogen Bordetella pertussis, the causative agent of whooping cough, modifies its lipid A by the addition of glucosamine moieties that promote TLR4 activation in human, but not mouse, macrophages. Using site-directed mutagenesis and an NFκB reporter assay screen, we have identified several charged amino acid residues in TLR4 and MD-2 that are important for these species-specific responses; some of these are novel for responses to penta-acyl B. pertussis LPS, and their mutation does not affect the response to hexa-acylated Escherichia coli LPS or tetra-acylated lipid IVA. We additionally show evidence that suggests that recognition of penta-acylated B. pertussis lipid A is dependent on uncharged amino acids in TLR4 and MD-2 and that this is true for both human and mouse TLR4-MD-2 receptors. Taken together, we have demonstrated that the TLR4-MD-2 receptor complex recognizes variation in lipid A molecules using multiple sites for receptor-ligand interaction an...
Source: Journal of Biological Chemistry - Category: Chemistry Authors: Tags: Immunology Source Type: research