Disruption of eptA did not affect cholesterol-dependent changes in the LPS profile, but disruption of lpxE eliminated this response to cholesterol. We propose that the LPS bands seen only under conditions of cholesterol depletion represent LPS with modified lipid A structure. This modified form could be 1-dephospholipid A, or a downstream form thereof (not including the 1-phosphoethanolamine form, which is ruled out by our eptA::cat results). While the entire sequence of LPS biogenesis has not been worked

out in H. pylori, a ketodeoxyoctulosonic acid (Kdo) hydrolase activity has been detected in membrane fractions of H. pylori that removes the outermost of two Kdo residues subsequent to lipid A GSK1210151A concentration dephosphorylation [63]. Though to date no Kdo hydrolase gene has been identified, such a Kdo-modified

derivative may be considered a candidate for the modified LPS. There may be other as yet unidentified downstream modifications as well. Positive assignment of the bands we observed is further complicated by the existence of a minor LPS form, in which lipid A bears an extra 4-phosphate group, and is hexa- rather than tetra-acylated [23]. Lipid A modifications are important because they strongly influence Toll-like receptor recognition, modulating innate immune responses [23, 64]. In order to discuss potential mechanisms for these LPS effects, we must consider the architecture of LPS biosynthesis. In well-studied organisms such as E. coli, the numerous steps in LPS biogenesis take place ACP-196 in specific subcellular compartments, and require specific transporters to shuttle intermediates across the inner membrane, periplasmic space, and outer membrane [64, 65]. Kdo2-lipid A is synthesized on the cytoplasmic face of the inner membrane, where the core oligosaccharide

is separately assembled and then attached. This core-lipid A species must be flipped across the bilayer by the essential transporter MsbA. Leukotriene-A4 hydrolase Modifications to lipid A are then carried out on the periplasmic face of the inner membrane. The O-chain is independently assembled in the cytoplasm on an undecaprenyl diphosphate carrier, transported across the inner membrane, and BMS345541 datasheet attached to the core-lipid A periplasmically. The multicomponent Lpt assembly transports full-length LPS across the outer membrane, where further trimming may occur. LPS biogenesis is species-specific, and for the case of H. pylori the picture is much less complete. Some but not all of the expected LPS transporter subunits have been identified in the genome [66, 67]. Lipid A dephosphorylation and phosphoethanolamine addition have been assigned to the periplasmic compartment based on work in which these H. pylori genes were expressed in a temperature-sensitive MsbA mutant strain of E. coli [58]. Our data are consistent with periplasmic lipid A modification occurring independently of both O-chain addition and Lewis antigen addition, in keeping with the general model just described.