Csako G, Suba E A, Ahlgren A, Tsai C M, Elin R J
J Infect Dis. 1986 Jan;153(1):98-108. doi: 10.1093/infdis/153.1.98.
The structure and function of the highly purified U.S. reference standard endotoxin (RSE) were studied after exposure to ionizing radiation from a 60Co source. With increasing doses of radiation, the trilaminar ribbon-like structure of untreated endotoxin exhibited focal swelling, after which only spherical particles were seen by electron microscopy. These morphological changes were paralleled by the respective loss of O-side chain repeating units and pieces of the R-core from the lipopolysaccharide molecules, as demonstrated by electrophoresis. The biologic function of the irradiated endotoxin was assessed with a variety of tests. At higher doses of radiation, a direct relation was observed between the degradation of the molecular and supramolecular structure and the loss of biologic function. At lower doses of radiation, however, there was variability among the functional assays in their rate of change with progressive irradiation of the RSE. The results suggest that the carbohydrate moiety plays an important role both in determining the supramolecular structure and in modulating certain biologic activities of bacterial endotoxins.
对来自60Co源的电离辐射照射后的高纯度美国参考标准内毒素（RSE）的结构和功能进行了研究。随着辐射剂量的增加，未处理内毒素的三层带状结构出现局灶性肿胀，之后通过电子显微镜仅能看到球形颗粒。如电泳所示，这些形态变化伴随着脂多糖分子中O侧链重复单元和R核心片段的相应丢失。用多种试验评估了辐照内毒素的生物学功能。在较高辐射剂量下，观察到分子和超分子结构的降解与生物学功能丧失之间存在直接关系。然而，在较低辐射剂量下，随着RSE逐渐辐照，功能测定的变化率存在差异。结果表明，碳水化合物部分在决定超分子结构和调节细菌内毒素的某些生物学活性方面都起着重要作用。
