In recent years, lipid A as ‘endotoxic principle’ of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and derivatives thereof have become increasingly important in the field of biomedical application such as for vaccination or as therapeutical, e.g., anti‑tumor agent. For an understanding of these...

Entry of endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or lipid A) into the blood stream is causative for the emergence of sepsis and septic shock with all its pathophysiological consequences.1 Serum contains a whole variety of proteins that interact with endotoxin. As large as the number of different...

The lipid A receptor consists of several subunits. Lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP) is a serum protein facilitating association of lipid A with CD14. The Lipid A-LBP-CD14 complex is further delivered to Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), which is essential for lipid A-mediated cellular...

Studies in animal models showed that the antitumoral effect of LPS and of their biologically active moiety, lipid A, is indirect and relies on the induction of an immune response both innate and specific, leading to cytokine production. They also affect tumor development by inhibiting tumor blood...

A variety of vaccines designed for cancer immunotherapy have been tested in clinical trials for more than two decades. Investigators realized early on that addition of adjuvants to cancer vaccines would be required to overcome the poor immune responses that are generally elicited to antigens...

Cancer remains the second leading cause of death, after cardiovascular diseases, in industrialized countries. The first goal to achieve is to prevent cancer occurrence or to diagnose it at an early and curable stage. Some screening strategies have been developed, with controversies across...

The occurrence of tolerance or host unresponsiveness in animals and humans administered multiple doses of microbe or microbial products has long been recognized by scientists and physicians with published reports appearing in professional journals dating back to the 19th century.1 Many of the...

Lipid A is a strong activator of monocytes to release immune stimulators such as proinflammatory cytokines. Overproduction of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF and IL‑6 is known to cause septic shock that frequently leads to multiple organ failure and finally to death. In recent years, Lipid A...

Lipid A is the lipophilic partial structure of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which is a characteristic and essential component of the cell surface architecture of Gram negative bacteria. LPS constitutes the outer leaflet of the lipid bilayer of outer membrane which covers the outermost...

The lipid A analogs used in preclinical studies and clinical trials are not naturally‑occurring forms of lipid A; they are synthetic molecules produced to be less toxic than lipid A itself and they do not reproduce the effects of natural lipid A molecules especially in vivo. The responses...

Treatment of cancer patients with lipid A analogs is now feasible. This is the culmination of a long story, beginning hundreds of years ago, of progress in different scientific fields ‑ bacteriology, chemistry, immunology, genetics, cell biology and experimental medicine. Knowing the history of...

The occurrence of tolerance or host unresponsiveness in animals and humans administered multiple doses of microbe or microbial products has long been recognized by scientists and physicians with published reports appearing in professional journals dating back to the 19th century.1 Many of the...