title: Lipopolysaccharide biogenesis and transport at the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria.
abstract: The outer membrane (OM) of Gram-negative bacteria is an asymmetric lipid bilayer containing a unique glycolipid, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in its outer leaflet. LPS molecules confer to the OM peculiar permeability barrier properties enabling Gram-negative bacteria to exclude many toxic compounds, including clinically useful antibiotics, and to survive harsh environments. Transport of LPS poses several problems to the cells due to the amphipatic nature of this molecule. In this review we summarize the current knowledge on the LPS transport machinery, discuss the challenges associated with this process and present the solutions that bacterial cells have evolved to address the problem of LPS transport and assembly at the cell surface. Finally, we discuss how knowledge on LPS biogenesis can be translated for the development of novel antimicrobial therapies. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Bacterial Lipids edited by Russell E. Bishop.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Farmacologiche e Biomolecolari, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: paola.sperandeo@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sperandeo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biotecnologie e Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Martorana
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Farmacologiche e Biomolecolari, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: alessandra.polissi@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Polissi
mesh_terms: D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D001692:Biological Transport; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism*; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D050155:Lipogenesis; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015394:Molecular Structure; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins
keywords: ABC transporter; Drug discovery; Lipopolysaccharide transport; Outer membrane biogenesis; Sensing LPS defects