Antagonistic lipopolysaccharides block E. coli lipopolysaccharide function at human TLR4 via interaction with the human MD-2 lipopolysaccharide binding site.

Lipopolysaccharides containing underacylated lipid A structures exhibit reduced abilities to activate the human (h) Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signalling pathway and function as potent antagonists against lipopolysaccharides bearing canonical lipid A structures. Expression of underacylated lipopolysaccharides has emerged as a novel mechanism utilized by microbial pathogens to modulate host innate immune responses. Notably, antagonistic lipopolysaccharides are prime therapeutic candidates for combating Gram negative bacterial sepsis. Penta-acylated msbB and tetra-acylated Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharides functionally antagonize hexa-acylated Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide-dependent activation of hTLR4 through the coreceptor, hMD-2. Here, the molecular mechanism by which these antagonistic lipopolysaccharides act at hMD-2 is examined. We present evidence that both msbB and P. gingivalis lipopolysaccharides are capable of direct binding to hMD-2. These antagonistic lipopolysaccharides can utilize at least two distinct mechanisms to block E. coli lipopolysaccharide-dependent activation of hTLR4. The main mechanism consists of direct competition between the antagonistic lipopolysaccharides and E. coli lipopolysaccharide for the same binding site on hMD-2, while the secondary mechanism involves the ability of antagonistic lipopolysaccharide-hMD-2 complexes to inhibit E. coli lipopolysaccharide-hMD-2 complexes function at hTLR4. It is also shown that both hTLR4 and hMD-2 contribute to the species-specific recognition of msbB and P. gingivalis lipopolysaccharides as antagonists at the hTLR4 complex.