Lipopolysaccharide assembly in the bacterial outer membrane revealed by X-ray crystallography  

作　　者：JIANG YouXing 

机构地区：[1]Department of Physiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

出　　处：《Science China(Life Sciences)》2014年第9期954-956,共3页中国科学（生命科学英文版）

摘　　要：Lipopolysaccharide （LPS）, also termed endotoxin, is a main component of the external leaflet of the outer membrane （OM） in Gram-negative bacteria. It serves as a natural bar- rier against harsh environments and toxic compounds, in- cluding antibiotics, and partially confers drug-resistance in bacteria [1]. LPS is also a powerful activator of inflamma- tion and innate immune responses in mammalian cells. For the discovery of LPS receptor, Toll-like receptor 4 （TLR4）, Bruce A. Beutler won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2011. As LPS is essential to most Gram- negative bacteria, intervening in LPS biogenesis offers great opportunities for developing novel antibiotics against path- ogens. However, for a long time, it is unclear how LPS is transported across the periplasm （the space between the inner and outer membranes） and assembled in the external leaflet of the OM in Gram-negative bacteria. With the funding support from the Ministry of Science and Technol- ogy of China, National Natural Science Foundation of Chi- na and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chi- nese Academy of Sciences, structural biologist Yihua Huang and his colleagues at the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, recently determined the crystal structure of the LptD/E complex from the pathogen Shigella flexneri [2]. This new membrane protein complex structure provides crucial insights into an essential step of LPS biogenesis and also provides us a novel target for de- veloping new antibiotics against Gram-negative pathogens.Lipopolysaccharide(LPS),also termed endotoxin,is a main component of the external leaflet of the outer membrane(OM)in Gram-negative bacteria.It serves as a natural barrier against harsh environments and toxic compounds,including antibiotics,and partially confers drug-resistance in bacteria[1].LPS is also a powerful activator of inflammation and innate immune responses in mammalian cells.

关 键 词：革兰氏阴性细菌 脂多糖 X射线晶体学 外膜 Toll样受体4 国家自然科学基金 膜蛋白复合物 科学技术部 

分 类 号：Q936[生物学—微生物学]