Activation of human serum complement by bacterial lipopolysaccharides: structural requirements for antibody independent activation of the classical and alternative pathways

A variety of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) preparations with highly defined primary polysaccharide chemical structure and/or aggregate macromolecular composition have been employed to examine the molecular requirements for activation of the classical and alternative pathways of human serum complement. Evidence is presented for two independent modes of polysaccharide dependent activation of the APC by LPS. One mechanism is dependent upon specific O-antigen polysaccharides and the second is defined by a specific L-glycero-D-mannoheptose/glucose region of the core oligosaccharide. LPS O-antigen polysaccharide but not core oligosaccharide determinants can convert sheep erythrocytes to cells capable of initiating the APC. The data presented provide convincing evidence that the tertiary assembly of individual LPS subunits into an aggregate macromolecule is a critical determinant in the expression of APC activity by LPS. The results of these studies provide strong evidence that CPC activation by LPS is restricted to the Re-chemotype and isolated lipid A. LPS isolated from other R-chemotypes as well as native wild type LPS preparations do not activate the CPC, in spite of the fact that the former LPS preparations contain more lipid A than polysaccharide on a percentage by wt basis. The presence of core polysaccharide L-glycero-D-mannoheptose, which provides a critical recognition role for activation of the APC, appears to negatively regulate CPC activation in a similar inverse relationship. In addition, the presence of polysaccharide containing LPS subunits in synthetic mixed LPS micellar aggregates can also restrict CPC activation by Re LPS subunits, most probably by steric hindrance at the LPS macromolecular surface. Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that activation of either pathway of human serum complement by a given LPS preparation is a mutually exclusive event dictated by the presence or absence of L-glycero-D-mannoheptose.