Cross-linked hemoglobin converts endotoxically inactive pentaacyl endotoxins into a physiologically active conformation.

The interaction of purified alpha alpha cross-linked hemoglobin (alpha alpha Hb) with a pentaacylated mutant lipopolysaccharide (pLPS) and the corresponding lipid A (pLA) was studied biophysically and the effects correlated with data from biological assays, i.e. cytokine induction (tumor necrosis factor-alpha) in human mononuclear cells and the Limulus amebocyte lysate assay. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic and Zeta-Sizer experiments indicated an electrostatic as well as a non-electrostatic binding of alpha alpha Hb to the hydrophilic and to the hydrophobic moieties of the endotoxins with an increase of the inclination angle of the pLA backbone, with respect to the membrane surface, from 25 degrees to more than 50 degrees. Small angle synchrotron radiation x-ray diffraction measurements indicated a reorientation of the lipid A aggregates from a multilamellar into a cubic structure as a result of alpha alpha Hb interaction. Thus, in the absence of alpha alpha Hb, the molecular shape of the pentaacyl samples was cylindrical with a moderate inclination of the diglucosamine backbone, whereas, in the presence of the protein, the shape was conical, and the inclination angle was high. The cytokine-inducing capability in human mononuclear cells, negligible for the pure pentaacylated compounds, increased markedly in the presence of alpha alpha Hb in a concentration-dependent manner. In the Limulus assay, the pentaacylated samples were active a priori, and their activity was enhanced following binding to alpha alphaHb, at least at the highest protein concentrations. The data can be understood in the light of a reaggregation of the endotoxins because of alpha alpha Hb binding, with the endotoxin backbones then readily accessible for serum and membrane proteins. By using fluorescence resonance energy transfer spectroscopy, an uptake of the endotoxin-Hb complex into phospholipid liposomes was observed, which provides a basis for cell activation.