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A Thermodynamic Funnel Drives Bacterial Lipopolysaccharide Transfer in the TLR4 Pathway

Huber, Roland G. ; Berglund, Nils A. ; Kargas, Vasileios ; Marzinek, Jan K. ; Holdbrook, Daniel A. ; Khalid, Syma ; Piggot, Thomas J. ; Schmidtchen, Artur LU and Bond, Peter J. (2018) In Structure 26(8). p.4-1161
Abstract

The Gram-negative bacterial outer membrane contains lipopolysaccharide, which potently stimulates the mammalian innate immune response. This involves a relay of specialized complexes culminating in transfer of lipopolysaccharide from CD14 to Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and its co-receptor MD-2 on the cell surface, leading to activation of downstream inflammatory responses. In this study we develop computational models to trace the TLR4 cascade in near-atomic detail. We demonstrate through rigorous thermodynamic calculations that lipopolysaccharide molecules traversing the receptor cascade fall into a thermodynamic funnel. An affinity gradient for lipopolysaccharide is revealed upon extraction from aggregates or realistic bacterial outer... (More)

The Gram-negative bacterial outer membrane contains lipopolysaccharide, which potently stimulates the mammalian innate immune response. This involves a relay of specialized complexes culminating in transfer of lipopolysaccharide from CD14 to Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and its co-receptor MD-2 on the cell surface, leading to activation of downstream inflammatory responses. In this study we develop computational models to trace the TLR4 cascade in near-atomic detail. We demonstrate through rigorous thermodynamic calculations that lipopolysaccharide molecules traversing the receptor cascade fall into a thermodynamic funnel. An affinity gradient for lipopolysaccharide is revealed upon extraction from aggregates or realistic bacterial outer membrane models and transfer through CD14 to the terminal TLR4/MD-2 receptor-co-receptor complex. We subsequently assemble viable CD14/TLR4/MD-2 oligomers at the plasma membrane surface, and observe lipopolysaccharide exchange between CD14 and TLR4/MD-2. Collectively, this work helps to unravel the key structural determinants governing endotoxin recognition in the TLR4 innate immune pathway. Huber et al. develop near-atomic computational models to simulate LPS transfer through the TLR4 pathway. These reveal that LPS recognition is favored by a thermodynamic funnel of increasing affinity along a receptor cascade, terminating in productive transfer of LPS at spontaneously assembled CD14/TLR4/MD-2 membrane complexes.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
cluster of differentiation 14 (CD14), coarse-grained (CG) models, free-energy calculations, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, myeloid differentiation factor 2 (MD-2), oligomerization, OmpF porin, toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)
in
Structure
volume
26
issue
8
pages
4 - 1161
publisher
Cell Press
external identifiers
  • pmid:29779787
  • scopus:85046170271
ISSN
0969-2126
DOI
10.1016/j.str.2018.04.007
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f92a0210-ed0c-43ab-a732-54ecff42f879
date added to LUP
2018-05-16 13:32:27
date last changed
2024-04-01 05:40:29
@article{f92a0210-ed0c-43ab-a732-54ecff42f879,
  abstract     = {{<p>The Gram-negative bacterial outer membrane contains lipopolysaccharide, which potently stimulates the mammalian innate immune response. This involves a relay of specialized complexes culminating in transfer of lipopolysaccharide from CD14 to Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and its co-receptor MD-2 on the cell surface, leading to activation of downstream inflammatory responses. In this study we develop computational models to trace the TLR4 cascade in near-atomic detail. We demonstrate through rigorous thermodynamic calculations that lipopolysaccharide molecules traversing the receptor cascade fall into a thermodynamic funnel. An affinity gradient for lipopolysaccharide is revealed upon extraction from aggregates or realistic bacterial outer membrane models and transfer through CD14 to the terminal TLR4/MD-2 receptor-co-receptor complex. We subsequently assemble viable CD14/TLR4/MD-2 oligomers at the plasma membrane surface, and observe lipopolysaccharide exchange between CD14 and TLR4/MD-2. Collectively, this work helps to unravel the key structural determinants governing endotoxin recognition in the TLR4 innate immune pathway. Huber et al. develop near-atomic computational models to simulate LPS transfer through the TLR4 pathway. These reveal that LPS recognition is favored by a thermodynamic funnel of increasing affinity along a receptor cascade, terminating in productive transfer of LPS at spontaneously assembled CD14/TLR4/MD-2 membrane complexes.</p>}},
  author       = {{Huber, Roland G. and Berglund, Nils A. and Kargas, Vasileios and Marzinek, Jan K. and Holdbrook, Daniel A. and Khalid, Syma and Piggot, Thomas J. and Schmidtchen, Artur and Bond, Peter J.}},
  issn         = {{0969-2126}},
  keywords     = {{cluster of differentiation 14 (CD14); coarse-grained (CG) models; free-energy calculations; lipopolysaccharide (LPS); molecular dynamics (MD) simulations; myeloid differentiation factor 2 (MD-2); oligomerization; OmpF porin; toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{8}},
  pages        = {{4--1161}},
  publisher    = {{Cell Press}},
  series       = {{Structure}},
  title        = {{A Thermodynamic Funnel Drives Bacterial Lipopolysaccharide Transfer in the TLR4 Pathway}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.str.2018.04.007}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.str.2018.04.007}},
  volume       = {{26}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}