title: Lysines 128 and 132 enable lipopolysaccharide binding to MD-2, leading to Toll-like receptor-4 aggregation and signal transduction.
abstract: Three cell-surface proteins have been recognized as components of the mammalian signaling receptor for bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS): CD14, Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4), and MD-2. Biochemical and visual studies shown here demonstrate that the role of CD14 in signal transduction is to enhance LPS binding to MD-2, although its expression is not essential for cellular activation. These studies clarify how MD-2 functions: we found that MD-2 enables TLR4 binding to LPS and allows the formation of stable receptor complexes. MD-2 must be bound to TLR4 on the cell surface before binding can occur. Consequently, TLR4 clusters into receptosomes (many of which are massive) that recruit intracellular toll/IL-1/resistance domain-containing adapter proteins within minutes, thus initiating signal transduction. TLR4 activation correlates with the ability of MD-2 to bind LPS, as MD-2 mutants that still bind TLR4, but are impaired in the ability to bind LPS, conferred a greatly blunted LPS response. These findings help clarify the earliest events of TLR4 triggering by LPS and identify MD-2 as an attractive target for pharmacological intervention in endotoxin-mediated diseases.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605, USA.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Visintin
authors.forename: Eicke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Latz
authors.forename: Brian G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Monks
authors.forename: Terje
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Espevik
authors.forename: Douglas T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Golenbock
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000378:metabolism*; D019921:Biotinylation; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002460:Cell Line; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003545:Cysteine / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D018950:Lipopolysaccharide Receptors / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000378:metabolism*; D051218:Lymphocyte Antigen 96; D008239:Lysine / Q000737:chemistry*; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011233:Precipitin Tests; D011485:Protein Binding; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000378:metabolism*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015398:Signal Transduction; D051197:Toll-Like Receptor 4; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors; D014162:Transfection; D014443:Tyrosine / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000954:Antigens, Surface; C495377:LY96 protein, human; D018950:Lipopolysaccharide Receptors; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D051218:Lymphocyte Antigen 96; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C495345:TLR4 protein, human; D051197:Toll-Like Receptor 4; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors; D014443:Tyrosine; D008239:Lysine; D003545:Cysteine