Abstract
Endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS), a constitutent of the outer membrane of the cell wall of gramnegative bacteria, exerts a wide variety of biological effects in humans. This review focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying these activities and discusses structure-function relationships of the endotoxin molecule, its interaction with humoral and cellular receptors involved in cell activation, and transmembrane and intra-cellular signal transduction pathways.
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Abbreviations
- GPI :
-
Glycosyl phosphatidylinositol
- HDL :
-
High-density lipoproteins
- IL :
-
Interleukin
- KDO :
-
2-Keto-3-deoxyoctonic acid
- LPS :
-
Lipopolysaccharide
- dLPS :
-
Deacylated LPS
- LBP :
-
LPS-binding protein
- MAPK :
-
Mitogen-activated protein kinase
- PTK :
-
Protein tyrosine kinase
- TNF :
-
Tumor necrosis factor
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Schletter, J., Heine, H., Ulmer, A.J. et al. Molecular mechanisms of endotoxin activity. Arch. Microbiol. 164, 383–389 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02529735
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02529735