Cyanobacterial lipopolysaccharides and human health – a review

Cyanobacterial lipopolysaccharide/s (LPS) are frequently cited in the cyanobacteria literature as toxins responsible for a variety of heath effects in humans, from skin rashes to gastrointestinal, respiratory and allergic reactions. The attribution of toxic properties to cyanobacterial LPS dates from the 1970s, when it was thought that lipid A, the toxic moiety of LPS, was structurally and functionally conserved across all Gram-negative bacteria. However, more recent research has shown that this is not the case, and lipid A structures are now known to be very different, expressing properties ranging from LPS agonists, through weak endotoxicity to LPS antagonists. Although cyanobacterial LPS is widely cited as a putative toxin, most of the small number of formal research reports describe cyanobacterial LPS as weakly toxic compared to LPS from the Enterobacteriaceae. We systematically reviewed the literature on cyanobacterial LPS, and also examined the much lager body of literature relating to heterotrophic bacterial LPS and the atypical lipid A structures of some photosynthetic bacteria. While the literature on the biological activity of heterotrophic bacterial LPS is overwhelmingly large and therefore difficult to review for the purposes of exclusion, we were unable to find a convincing body of evidence to suggest that heterotrophic bacterial LPS, in the absence of other virulence factors, is responsible for acute gastrointestinal, dermatological or allergic reactions via natural exposure routes in humans. There is a danger that initial speculation about cyanobacterial LPS may evolve into orthodoxy without basis in research findings. No cyanobacterial lipid A structures have been described and published to date, so a recommendation is made that cyanobacteriologists should not continue to attribute such a diverse range of clinical symptoms to cyanobacterial LPS without research confirmation

Lysosomal dysfunction causes neurodegeneration in mucolipidosis II 'knock-in' mice

Kollmann K, Damme M, Markmann S, et al. Lysosomal dysfunction causes neurodegeneration in mucolipidosis II 'knock-in' mice. Brain. 2012;135(9):2661-2675.Mucolipidosis II is a neurometabolic lysosomal trafficking disorder of infancy caused by loss of mannose 6-phosphate targeting signals on lysosomal proteins, leading to lysosomal dysfunction and accumulation of non-degraded material. However, the identity of storage material and mechanisms of neurodegeneration in mucolipidosis II are unknown. We have generated 'knock-in' mice with a common mucolipidosis II patient mutation that show growth retardation, progressive brain atrophy, skeletal abnormalities, elevated lysosomal enzyme activities in serum, lysosomal storage in fibroblasts and brain and premature death, closely mimicking the mucolipidosis II disease in humans. The examination of affected mouse brains at different ages by immunohistochemistry, ultrastructural analysis, immunoblotting and mass spectrometric analyses of glycans and anionic lipids revealed that the expression and proteolytic processing of distinct lysosomal proteins such as alpha-l-fucosidase, beta-hexosaminidase, alpha-mannosidase or Niemann-Pick C2 protein are more significantly impacted by the loss of mannose 6-phosphate residues than enzymes reaching lysosomes independently of this targeting mechanism. As a consequence, fucosylated N-glycans, GM2 and GM3 gangliosides, cholesterol and bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate accumulate progressively in the brain of mucolipidosis II mice. Prominent astrogliosis and the accumulation of organelles and storage material in focally swollen axons were observed in the cerebellum and were accompanied by a loss of Purkinje cells. Moreover, an increased neuronal level of the microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 and the formation of p62-positive neuronal aggregates indicate an impairment of constitutive autophagy in the mucolipidosis II brain. Our findings demonstrate the essential role of mannose 6-phosphate for selected lysosomal proteins to maintain the capability for degradation of sequestered components in lysosomes and autophagolysosomes and prevent neurodegeneration. These lysosomal proteins might be a potential target for a valid therapeutic approach for mucolipidosis II disease