Identification and characterization of lipopolysaccharide-binding proteins on human peripheral blood cell populations.

Previous research in this laboratory, using photoactivatable radioiodinated lipopolysaccharide derivatized with sulfosuccinimidyl-2-(p-azidosalicylamide)-1,3'-dithiopropionate (125I-ASD-LPS), has resulted in the identification of a specific LPS receptor with a molecular mass of approximately 73 kDa on murine lymphocytes and splenic macrophages. The experiments presented in this report investigated whether a similar LPS-binding protein was also expressed on human peripheral blood populations, including monocytes, lymphocytes, neutrophils, platelets, and erythrocytes. Each cell population was incubated with 125I-ASD-LPS, UV irradiated, washed, reduced, and solubilized, and the cell lysates were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by autoradiography. On all of the cell populations, except erythrocytes, a similar 73-kDa LPS-binding protein was present. In addition, each population also expressed lower-molecular-weight secondary LPS-binding proteins, some of which were conserved among the populations. Binding of the photoactivatable LPS probe was found to be both time and temperature dependent. These data support the concept that the 73-kDa LPS-binding protein is conserved on multiple cell types from a variety of species.