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Infection and Immunity, November 2002, p. 6043-6047, Vol. 70, No. 11
0019-9567/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.70.11.6043-6047.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
B through Human Toll-Like Receptor 4
Division of Microbiology, National Institute of Health Sciences, Setagaya, Tokyo 158-8501, Japan
Received 21 March 2002/ Returned for modification 5 June 2002/ Accepted 6 August 2002
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B. In human monocytic cell line THP-1, Salmonella lipid A and synthetic Salmonella-type lipid A (516) did not induce NF-
B-dependent reporter activity up to 1 µg/ml, whereas strong activation was observed in response to Salmonella LPS. The difference in activity between this lipid A and LPS was further examined by using 293 cells expressing human CD14/Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/MD-2, and similar results were obtained in these cells as well. A polysaccharide preparation obtained from Salmonella LPS was inactive in 293 cells expressing human CD14/TLR4/MD-2 even in combination with 516. Salmonella enterica serovar Minnesota Re LPS, whose structure consists of lipid A and two molecules of 2-keto-3-deoxyoctonic acid, but not its lipid A exhibited strong activity in THP-1 cells and 293 cells expressing human CD14/TLR4/MD-2. These results indicate that the polysaccharide portion covalently bound to lipid A plays the principal role in Salmonella LPS-induced activation of NF-
B through human CD14/TLR4/MD-2. |
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The discovery of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) greatly advanced our understanding of the signal transduction mechanism of LPS. TLRs are mammalian homologues of the Drosophila melanogaster Toll protein. Among the TLRs identified so far, TLR4 has been reported to confer LPS responsiveness on LPS-unresponsive cells (1). TLR4 was initially identified as a molecule that increases constitutive but not LPS-inducible NF-
B activity. However, the finding of novel accessory molecule MD-2 (26), which confers LPS responsiveness on TLR4, and analyses of TLR4-deficient (8, 23, 24, 27, 31) mice have provided strong evidence for the involvement of TLR4 in LPS signaling. Based on these findings, the CD14/TLR4/MD-2 complex is now considered to be the predominant receptor for LPS.
We recently found that lipid A preparations from various Salmonella strains and synthetic Salmonella-type lipid A (516) exert very little stimulatory activity on human macrophages, although their LPS preparations and both lipid A and LPS preparations from E. coli are highly active (28). To clarify the basis of this phenomenon, in this study we investigated the role of the polysaccharide portion of LPS in TLR4-mediated activation of NF-
B, and the results showed that the polysaccharide portion of Salmonella LPS is indispensable to activation of NF-
B via human CD14/TLR4/MD-2. To our knowledge, this is the first report claiming participation of the polysaccharide portion in LPS-induced activation of NF-
B.
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Expression plasmids.
Plasmids containing human CD14 and mouse CD14 cDNAs were provided by Shunsuke Yamamoto (Medical College of Oita, Oita, Japan). The regions encoding human TLR4, mouse TLR4, and human MD-2 were amplified by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) from total RNA prepared from human spleen (OriGene Technologies, Rockville, Md.), murine fibroblast L929 cells, and THP-1 cells, respectively. The region encoding mouse MD-2 was amplified from a mouse embryo cDNA library (Clontech, Palo Alto, Calif.). Each PCR product was cloned into mammalian expression vector pcDNA3 (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.). The coding regions of all constructs described above minus the coding sequences for their respective signal peptide sequences were subcloned into the downstream region of a modified pcDNA3 vector, in which the coding sequence for the preprotrypsin signal peptide sequence precedes that for the NH2-terminal EIAV tag epitope (amino acid sequence: ADRRIPGTAEE). NF-
B-dependent luciferase reporter plasmid pELAM-L was described previously (22).
NF-
B reporter assay.
The NF-
B-dependent luciferase reporter assay was performed as described elsewhere (22). Briefly, human embryonic kidney 293 cells (3 x 105 to 5 x 105/well) were plated in six-well dishes and on the following day were transfected by the calcium phosphate precipitation method with 0.2 µg of pELAM-L and 0.05 µg of pRL-TK (Promega, Madison, Wis.) for normalization. THP-1 cells (2 x 106/well) were plated in six-well dishes and differentiated with 100 ng of phorbol myristate acetate (Sigma)/ml plus 100 nM 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 (Wako Pure Chemical Industries). The cells were transfected 3 to 4 days later by using 3 µl of FuGene (Roche Diagnostics, Basel, Switzerland) with 1 µg of pELAM-L and 0.1 µg of pRL-TK (Promega) for normalization. RAW 264 cells (3 x 105 to 5 x 105/well) were plated in six-well dishes and on the following day were transfected by using 3 µl of FuGene with 0.5 µg of pELAM-L and 0.5 µg of pRL-TK for normalization. At 24 h after transfection, cells were stimulated for 6 h, and the reporter gene activity was measured according to the manufacturer's (Promega) instructions.
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B-
in human macrophage cell lines (THP-1 and U937) but that the original LPS and lipid A preparations from E. coli showed strong ability to induce both. To confirm this phenomenon in an NF-
B-dependent reporter assay system, we first examined the activity of lipid A and LPS prepared from Salmonella serovar Abortusequi and E. coli on human macrophage cell line THP-1 (Fig. 1). In differentiated THP-1 cells neither Salmonella lipid A nor synthetic Salmonella-type lipid A (compound 516) significantly increased reporter activity at concentrations up to 1 µg/ml, whereas strong activation was observed in response to Salmonella LPS (Fig. 1A). By contrast, E. coli lipid A and synthetic E. coli-type lipid A (compound 506) strongly increased luciferase activity, and their activities were comparable to the activity of E. coli LPS (Fig. 1B). The failure of this Salmonella lipid A preparation to induce reporter activity was not due to improper preparation of lipid A because this lipid A preparation strongly activated reporter activity in mouse macrophage cell line RAW 264 (Fig. 2). Thus, our previous finding that Salmonella lipid A, but not Salmonella LPS, is inactive in human macrophages was confirmed in our NF-
B-dependent reporter assay system.
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FIG. 1. Loss of the polysaccharide structure greatly reduces the activity of Salmonella LPS in human macrophage cells. Differentiated THP-1 cells were transiently transfected with an NF- B-dependent luciferase reporter plasmid. After 24 h, cells were either unstimulated (open circles) or stimulated for 6 h with the LPS or lipid A preparations indicated in the presence of 10% (vol/vol) fetal calf serum, and luciferase activity was then measured. Values are means ± standard errors of the means from at least four independent experiments. ELA, E. coli lipid A; SLA, Salmonella lipid A; ELPS, E. coli LPS; SLPS, Salmonella LPS.
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FIG. 2. The polysaccharide structure is not required for the activity of Salmonella LPS in RAW 264 cells. RAW 264 cells were transiently transfected with an NF- B-dependent luciferase reporter plasmid. After 24 h, cells were either unstimulated (open circles) or stimulated for 6 h with the LPS or lipid A preparations indicated in the presence of 10% (vol/vol) fetal calf serum, and luciferase activity was then measured. Values are means ± standard errors of the means from four independent experiments. SLA, Salmonella lipid A; SLPS, Salmonella LPS.
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B-dependent reporter activity in 293 cells transiently expressing CD14/TLR4/MD-2 (Fig. 3). In 293 cells transfected with a control vector, no activation of reporter activity in response to Salmonella LPS was observed (data not shown). In cells expressing CD14/TLR4/MD-2 of human origin, Salmonella LPS increased the reporter activity in a concentration-dependent manner, whereas the activity of Salmonella lipid A and 516 was much weaker than that of Salmonella LPS (Fig. 3A). As a control, the effects of E. coli LPS and lipid A in these cells were also examined. As observed in THP-1 cells, E. coli lipid A and 506 increased reporter activity and their activity was only slightly less than that of E. coli LPS (Fig. 3B). These results indicate that the polysaccharide structure plays an indispensable role in Salmonella LPS-induced activation of NF-
B through human CD14/TLR4/MD-2.
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FIG. 3. Loss of the polysaccharide structure greatly reduces the activity of Salmonella LPS in 293 cells expressing human CD14/TLR4/MD-2. 293 cells were transiently transfected with CD14 (0.1 µg), TLR4 (2 ng), and MD-2 (2 ng) plasmids of human origin, together with an NF- B-dependent luciferase reporter plasmid. After 24 h, cells were either unstimulated (open circles) or stimulated for 6 h with the LPS or lipid A preparations indicated in the presence of 10% (vol/vol) fetal calf serum, and luciferase activity was then measured. Values are means ± standard errors of the means from at least four independent experiments. ELA, E. coli lipid A; SLA, Salmonella lipid A; ELPS, E. coli LPS; SLPS, Salmonella LPS.
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FIG. 4. Presence of only a disaccharide is sufficient to increase the activity of Salmonella lipid A in differentiated THP-1 cells and 293 cells expressing human CD14/TLR4/MD-2. Differentiated THP-1 cells (A) were transiently transfected with an NF- B-dependent luciferase reporter plasmid. 293 cells were transiently transfected with CD14 (0.1 µg), TLR4 (2 ng), and MD-2 (2 ng) plasmids of either human (B) or mouse (C) origin, together with an NF- B-dependent luciferase reporter plasmid. After 24 h, cells were either unstimulated (open circles) or stimulated for 6 h with the LPS or lipid A preparations indicated in the presence of 10% (vol/vol) fetal calf serum, and luciferase activity was then measured. Values are means ± standard errors of the means from at least three independent experiments.
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B through TLR2, as reported by Hirschfeld et al. (6) and Tapping et al. (29), we examined the effect of our Salmonella LPS preparations on 293 cells transiently expressing CD14 and TLR2. Peptidoglycan from Staphylococcus aureus strongly increased the reporter activity in these cells, whereas no significant activation was observed in response to LPS from Salmonella serovar Abortusequi or Re LPS from Salmonella serovar Minnesota at concentrations up to 10 µg/ml (data not shown), indicating that no TLR2-stimulating contaminants were present in our Salmonella LPS preparations. Taken together, these results indicate that the polysaccharide structure plays an indispensable role in Salmonella LPS-induced activation of NF-
B through human CD14/TLR4/MD-2. |
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B. The possibility of improper preparation of lipid A can be ruled out because the lipid A preparations were highly active in mouse macrophages and because synthetic Salmonella-type lipid A (compound 516), which is highly active in mouse macrophages, also showed very little activity in human macrophages (28; this study). The finding that Salmonella lipid A and 516 possess strong activity in mouse macrophages also indicates that the lack of activity of these lipid A preparations in human macrophages is not simply due to the hydrophobic nature of the lipid A molecules. The possibility that only a specific cell line of human origin, such as the THP-1 line used in this study, shows limited sensitivity to Salmonella lipid A is also unlikely because another human macrophage cell line, U937, also failed to respond to Salmonella lipid A (28) and because 293 cells expressing CD14/TLR4/MD-2 of human origin showed limited sensitivity to Salmonella lipid A (Fig. 3A). All of these findings support the concept that the polysaccharide portion is indispensable to Salmonella LPS-induced activation of NF-
B through human CD14/TLR4/MD-2. Although a number of studies have shown that lipid A preparations of Salmonella origin activate macrophages of human origin, we found (28) that some Salmonella lipid A preparations still contain considerable amounts of E. coli-type lipid A as a major component that is biosynthesized depending on the bacterial culture conditions and that is active in human macrophages. Therefore, the activity of Salmonella lipid A preparations of bacterial origin needs to be evaluated with caution.
The only structural difference between the E. coli-type (compound 506) and Salmonella-type (compound 516) lipid A molecules is a hexadecanoyl acid moiety attached to the hydroxyl residue of 3-hydroxytetradecanoic acid bound to position 2 of reducing diglucosamine (28). The activities of these lipid A compounds in human macrophages, but not mouse macrophages, were dramatically different, suggesting that human macrophages are capable of discriminating their structural differences. We recently found that species differences in MD-2 molecules are involved in this species-specific action of Salmonella lipid A (21). By contrast, there was no significant difference between the activities of the E. coli and Salmonella LPS preparations. The chemical structure of the polysaccharide portion of LPS varies greatly among different bacterial species. However, it is unlikely that a polysaccharide specific to Salmonella LPS possesses activity that induces NF-
B, because Salmonella serovar Minnesota Re LPS, whose structure consists of lipid A and two molecules of 2-keto-3-deoxyoctonic acid, a saccharide commonly found both in E. coli and Salmonella LPS, also strongly activated NF-
B (Fig. 4). Moreover, a polysaccharide preparation obtained from our Salmonella LPS by itself induced neither tumor necrosis factor alpha production nor NF-
B activation in THP-1 cells and 293 cells expressing human CD14/TLR4/MD-2, even when the polysaccharide preparation and Salmonella lipid A were added together (28; this study). Therefore, Salmonella LPS requires at least a disaccharide structure covalently bound to lipid A for its activity.
Use of Salmonella lipid A preparations whose major lipid A structure consists of typical Salmonella-type hepta-acylated lipid A molecules in addition to synthetic Salmonella-type lipid A allowed us to identify the essential role of the polysaccharide portion of Salmonella LPS in macrophage activation. The concept that the active center of LPS resides in its lipid A portion is well established; however, the activity of LPS and that of its lipid A have not been systematically compared until now. Although we cannot generalize the need for the polysaccharide portion to other types of LPS, the essential feature of the polysaccharide portion may not be restricted to Salmonella LPS. The function of the polysaccharide portion in the interaction of LPS molecules with the LPS receptor molecules is unknown. Since the free polysaccharide itself did not activate macrophages even when stimulated in combination with Salmonella lipid A, covalently bound polysaccharide seems to change the conformation of LPS, resulting in a change in its binding mode or binding site at LPS receptor molecules. Because of this, Salmonella LPS and lipid A may serve as useful tools to identify the part of LPS and the molecule of the LPS receptor complex that are involved in LPS signal transduction in macrophages.
We thank Shogo Endo for technical assistance.
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B by lipopolysaccharide. J. Immunol. 167:3354-3359.
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