Lipopolysaccharide

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)

Lipopolysaccharide is an endotoxin released from bacteria.

More notes to come. [Aug 15, 2020]

Intestinal Alkaline Phosphatase

I came across an interesting article today defining the difference between the physical intestinal barrier and the functional intestinal barrier.

While the epithelial cell layer and the outer/inner mucin layer constitute the physical barrier and are often referred to as the intestinal barrier, intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) produced by epithelial cells and antibacterial proteins secreted by Panneth cells represent the functional barrier. While antibacterial proteins play an important role in the host defense against gut microbes, IAP detoxifies bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) by catalyzing the dephosphorylation of the active/toxic Lipid A moiety, preventing local inflammation as well as the translocation of active LPS into systemic circulation.

• Ghosh, S. S., Wang, J., Yannie, P. J., & Ghosh, S. (2020). Intestinal Barrier Dysfunction, LPS Translocation, and Disease Development. Journal of the Endocrine Society, 4(2), bvz039. https://doi.org/10.1210/jendso/bvz039

So intestinal alkaline phosphatase deactivates lipopolysaccharide. Seems worth diving into.