skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Membrane insertion for the detection of lipopolysaccharides: Exploring the dynamics of amphiphile-in-lipid assays

Journal Article · · PLoS ONE
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [2];  [1];  [5]
  1. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); The New Mexico Consortium, Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  2. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  3. Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE (United States)
  4. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States); The New Mexico Consortium, Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  5. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (Spain)

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli is an important cause of foodborne illness, with cases attributable to beef, fresh produce and other sources. Many serotypes of the pathogen cause disease, and differentiating one serotype from another requires specific identification of the O antigen located on the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) molecule. The amphiphilic structure of LPS poses a challenge when using classical detection methods, which do not take into account its lipoglycan biochemistry. Typically, detection of LPS requires heat or chemical treatment of samples and relies on bioactivity assays for the conserved lipid A portion of the molecule. Our goal was to develop assays to facilitate the direct and discriminative detection of the entire LPS molecule and its O antigen in complex matrices using minimal sample processing. To perform serogroup identification of LPS, we used a method called membrane insertion on a waveguide biosensor, and tested three serogroups of LPS. The membrane insertion technique allows for the hydrophobic association of LPS with a lipid bilayer, where the exposed O antigen can be targeted for specific detection. Samples of beef lysate were spiked with LPS to perform O antigen specific detection of LPS from E. coli O157. To validate assay performance, we evaluated the biophysical interactions of LPS with lipid bilayers both in- and outside of a flow cell using fluorescence microscopy and fluorescently doped lipids. Our results indicate that membrane insertion allows for the qualitative and reliable identification of amphiphilic LPS in complex samples like beef homogenates. In addition, we also demonstrated that LPS-induced hole formation does not occur under the conditions of the membrane insertion assays. Together, these findings describe for the first time the serogroup-specific detection of amphiphilic LPS in complex samples using a membrane insertion assay, and highlight the importance of LPS molecular conformations in detection architectures.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Photosynthetic Antenna Research Center (PARC)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396; SC0001035
OSTI ID:
1321771
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-15-29061
Journal Information:
PLoS ONE, Vol. 11, Issue 5; ISSN 1932-6203
Publisher:
Public Library of ScienceCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 10 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (82)

Determining endotoxin content of ground beef by the Limulus amoebocyte lysate test as a rapid indicator of microbial quality. journal January 1979
Improvements to the Competitive Elisa for Detection of Antibodies to Brucella Abortus in Cattle Sera journal August 1994
Biosynthesis of lipopolysaccharide O antigens journal May 1995
Critical micelle concentration. Transition point for micellar size distribution journal November 1975
Biosynthesis and Assembly of Capsular Polysaccharides in Escherichia coli journal June 2006
Effect of pH on solubility and ionic state of lipopolysaccharide obtained from the deep rough mutant of Escherichia coli journal May 1993
Detection of lipoarabinomannan as a diagnostic test for tuberculosis. journal January 1992
Discovery of new biosynthetic pathways: the lipid A story journal October 2008
Comparative Studies on the Toxicity of Escherichia coli Lipopolysaccharide Endotoxin in Various Animal Species journal October 1966
Toll-like receptors in the induction of the innate immune response journal August 2000
Detection of five Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli genes with multiplex PCR journal June 2014
Redefining the Requisite Lipopolysaccharide Structure in Escherichia coli journal January 2006
Structural Requirements of Lipid a for Endotoxicity and Other Biological Activities journal January 1989
Epidemiology and diagnosis of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli infections journal July 1999
Detection by 5′-nuclease PCR of Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli O26, O55, O91, O103, O111, O113, O145 and O157:H7, associated with the world's most frequent clinical cases journal June 2004
Waveguide-Based Biosensors for Pathogen Detection journal July 2009
Association of lipoarabinomannan with high density lipoprotein in blood: Implications for diagnostics journal May 2013
Development and evaluation of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for endotoxin in milk journal September 1988
Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Dynamic Lipid Membrane Reorganization: Tubules, Perforations, and Stacks journal June 2014
Structure and function of lipopolysaccharide binding protein journal September 1990
Aggregation behavior and size of lipopolysaccharide from Escherichia coli O55:B5 journal November 2006
Vagus nerve stimulation attenuates the systemic inflammatory response to endotoxin journal May 2000
Applicability of a Multiplex PCR to Detect the Seven Major Shiga Toxin–Producing Escherichia coli Based on Genes That Code for Serogroup-Specific O-Antigens and Major Virulence Factors in Cattle Feces journal June 2012
The immunopathogenesis of sepsis journal December 2002
Molecular Basis of Bacterial Outer Membrane Permeability Revisited journal December 2003
Endotoxemia: methods of detection and clinical correlates. journal April 1995
Bacterial endotoxins: extraordinary lipids that activate eucaryotic signal transduction. journal September 1993
Evaluation of a monoclonal antibody-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of Campylobacter fetus in bovine preputial washing and vaginal mucus samples journal October 2004
The structures of Escherichia coli O-polysaccharide antigens journal May 2006
Toward photostable multiplex analyte detection on a single mode planar optical waveguide conference February 2009
Pathogen detection using single mode planar optical waveguides journal January 2005
Direct PCR detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 journal September 2003
Molecular basis of bacterial outer membrane permeability journal March 1985
Polymer interactions between five gram-negative bacteria and glass investigated using LPS micelles and vesicles as model systems journal June 1998
Critical Aggregation Concentrations of Gram-Negative Bacterial Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) journal December 1998
Rapid detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis biomarkers in a sandwich immunoassay format using a waveguide-based optical biosensor journal September 2012
Detection of Intact Influenza Viruses using Biotinylated Biantennary S -Sialosides journal July 2008
Optimizing a Waveguide-Based Sandwich Immunoassay for Tumor Biomarkers: Evaluating Fluorescent Labels and Functional Surfaces journal February 2009
An optical biosensor for detection of pathogen biomarkers from Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in ground beef samples conference March 2015
Toll-like receptors in innate immunity journal November 2004
Immunomagnetic separation of Escherichia coli O26, O111 and O157 from vegetables journal July 2001
Lipoprotein particle distribution and skeletal muscle lipoprotein lipase activity after acute exercise journal January 2012
Biological activities of lipopolysaccharides are determined by the shape of their lipid A portion: Bioactivity of LPS determined by lipid A shape journal April 2000
In vivo protection against endotoxin by plasma high density lipoprotein. journal December 1993
Dual Role of Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-Binding Protein in Neutralization of LPS and Enhancement of LPS-Induced Activation of Mononuclear Cells journal November 2001
Purification and characterization of lipopolysaccharides from six strains of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli journal September 2015
Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-binding protein is carried on lipoproteins and acts as a cofactor in the neutralization of LPS journal September 1994
Detection of the Top Six Non-O157 Shiga Toxin–Producing Escherichia coli O Groups by ELISA journal November 2012
CMC range due to polydispersity of micelles journal February 1991
Toll receptors, CD14, and macrophage activation and deactivation by LPS journal July 2002
LPS-binding protein circulates in association with apoB-containing lipoproteins and enhances endotoxin-LDL/VLDL interaction
  • Vreugdenhil, Anita C. E.; Snoek, A. M. Patricia; van ‘t Veer, Cornelis
  • Journal of Clinical Investigation, Vol. 107, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1172/jci10832
journal January 2001
Low serum level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol is a poor prognostic factor for severe sepsis* journal January 2005
Binding of lipopolysaccharide and complexes of lipopolysaccharide to serum low density lipoproteins to liver macrophages journal March 2007
Endotoxin removal from protein solutions journal January 2000
Clinical detection of LPS and animal models of endotoxemia journal April 1993
Spontaneous insertion of lipopolysaccharide into lipid membranes from aqueous solution journal February 2011
Evaluation of commercial latex reagents for identification of O157 and H7 antigens of Escherichia coli. journal January 1996
Quantitative Multiplex Detection of Pathogen Biomarkers on Multichannel Waveguides journal January 2010
A Technique for Quantitative Measurement of Endotoxin in Human Plasma journal May 1971
Lipopolysaccharide Identification with Functionalized Polydiacetylene Liposome Sensors journal April 2004
Lipoarabinomannans—structurally diverse and functionally enigmatic macroamphiphiles of mycobacteria and related actinomycetes journal July 2005
Detection of stealthy small amphiphilic biomarkers journal August 2014
Detection of endotoxin using an evanescent wave fiber-optic biosensor journal September 1996
Role of the physical state of Salmonella lipopolysaccharide in expression of biological and endotoxic properties. journal January 1993
Planar optical waveguide-based biosensor for the quantitative detection of tumor markers journal May 2009
Detection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and identification of its serotype by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using poly-l-lysine journal August 1992
Molecular basis of bacterial outer membrane permeability. journal January 1985
Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli: An overview1 journal March 2007
Microcantilever array biosensors for detection and recognition of Gram-negative bacterial endotoxins journal July 2014
Lipoarabinomannans: from structure to biosynthesis journal February 2003
Detection of mycobacterial lipoarabinomannan with an antigen-capture ELISA in unprocessed urine of Tanzanian patients with suspected tuberculosis journal December 2005
Evaluation of Lipopolysaccharides and Polysaccharides of Different Epitopic Structures in the Indirect Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Diagnosis of Brucellosis in Small Ruminants and Cattle journal November 1998
Structure and function of lipopolysaccharides journal July 2002
Short-range interactions between lipid bilayers measured by X-ray diffraction journal August 2000
Exploiting lipopolysaccharide-induced deformation of lipid bilayers to modify membrane composition and generate two-dimensional geometric membrane array patterns journal May 2015
Evaluation of Lipopolysaccharide Aggregation by Light Scattering Spectroscopy journal January 2003
Understanding the interaction of Lipoarabinomannan with membrane mimetic architectures journal January 2012
Rapid Estimation of Microbial Numbers in Fresh Ground Beef by Use of the Limulus Test journal April 1981
Novel optical strategies for biodetection conference September 2013
Recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns by TLR family journal January 2003
Methods of Endotoxin Detection journal August 2015
A mutant of Escherichia coli defective in the first step of endotoxin biosynthesis. journal April 1990

Cited By (4)

Developing and Deploying Universal Diagnostic Platforms for One-Health Biosurveillance journal May 2018
Detection of Lipid and Amphiphilic Biomarkers for Disease Diagnostics journal July 2017
Direct detection of bacteremia by exploiting host-pathogen interactions of lipoteichoic acid and lipopolysaccharide journal April 2019
Subclinical lipopolysaccharide from Salmonella Enteritidis induces neuropeptide dysregulation in the spinal cord and the dorsal root ganglia journal April 2019