The outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria contains lipopolysaccharide (LPS), also known as endotoxin, a low molecular weight carbohydrate with a molecular mass of 10-20 kDa. It is heterogeneous and composed of O antigen (a highly variable polysaccharide consisting of ~ 10–25 repeating sugar subunits), outer core oligosaccharide which attaches to O antigen, Lipid A and inner core which attaches outer core to Lipid A. Lipid A, has multiple fatty acids which anchor LPS in the bacterial membrane allowing O antigen and core oligosaccharide to protrude which contributes to a major part of the toxicity of gram-negative bacteria. LPS induces a strong inflammatory response and/or sepsis in animals. There is also evidence that LPS plays a role in autoimmunity, obesity, depression, and cellular senescence. AkrivisBio’s LPS Isolation Kit utilizes a lysis buffer and protein digestion to yield LPS from bacterial cultures where it is approximately 1-4% by dry weight. We avoid the use of chloroform or phenol as in traditional methods. Our kit yields pure LPS in less than 2 hours.
