Abstract
The availability of convenient assays for the detection and quantification of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) is limited. In the case of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) the so-called LAL (limulus amebocyte lysate) test is available, an assay that is performed with the lysate of the blood of the horse shoe crab. Although a sensitive and convenient assay, it lacks specificity, since it is affected by other endotoxins like, for instance, fungal cell walls as well. Here, we describe a bioassay that can be used to detect and quantitate PAMPs in environmental samples. More specific we demonstrate the usage of TLR2 and TLR4/CD14/MD2 transfected Hek293 cells to quantitatively determine bacterial lipoproteins and LPS, respectively. We show the usefulness of these assays to measure LPS in tobacco before and after combustion.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Vassallo R, Limper AH (1999) Fungal ß-glucan can yield false-positive results with the limulus amebocyte lysate endotoxin assay. Chest 116:583–584
Hirano M, Matsumoto T, Kiyohara H, Yamada H (1994) Lipopolysaccharide-independent limulus amebocyte lysate activating, mitogenic and anti-complementary activities of pectic polysaccharides from chinese herbs. Planta Med 60:248–252
Cooper JF, Weary ME, Jordan FT (1997) The impact of non-endotoxin LAL-reactive materials on Limulus amebocyte lysate analyses. PDA J Pharm Sci Technol 51:2–6
Ding JL, Ho B (2010) Endotoxin detection—from limulus amebocyte lysate to recombinant factor C. Subcell Biochem 53:187–208
Lappin DF, Sherrabeh S, Erridge C (2011) Stimulants of Toll-like receptors 2 and 4 are elevated in saliva of periodontitis patients compared with healthy subjects. J Clin Periodontol 38:318–325
Peters M, Fritz P, Bufe A (2012) A bioassay for determination of lipopolysaccharide in environmental samples. Innate Immun 18:694–699
Hasday JD, Bascom R, Costa JJ, Fitzgerald T, Dubin W (1999) Bacterial endotoxin is an active component of cigarette smoke. Chest 115:829–835
Pomorska D, Larsson L, Skórska C, Sitkowska J, Dutkiewicz J (2007) Levels of bacterial endotoxin in air of animal houses determined with the use of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and Limulus test. Ann Agric Environ Med 14:291–298
Knobloch J, Schild K, Jungck D, Urban K, Müller K, Schweda EK, Rupp J, Koch A (2011) The T-helper cell type 1 immune response to gram-negative bacterial infections is impaired in COPD. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 183:204–214
Güttsches AK, Löseke S, Zähringer U, Sonnenborn U, Enders C, Gatermann S, Bufe A (2012) Anti-inflammatory modulation of immune response by probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 in human blood mononuclear cells. Innate Immun 18:204–216
Acknowledgments
We like to thank Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Wiesmüller (EMCmicrocollections, Tübingen, Germany) for providing us with FSL-1. We like to thank Prof. Dr. Ulrich Zähringer (formerly Forschungszentrum Borstel, Germany) for providing us with E. coli LPS. We like to thank Dimitri Kasakovski for generating the cigarette and smoke extracts. This work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (PE 1813/2-1).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media LLC
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Peters, M., Bonowitz, P., Bufe, A. (2017). A Bioassay for the Determination of Lipopolysaccharides and Lipoproteins. In: Holst, O. (eds) Microbial Toxins. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1600. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6958-6_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6958-6_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-6956-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-6958-6
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols