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. 2012 May 3;8(5):e1002667. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1002667

Figure 8. Proposed model for the implication of the LPS core or the 4′ phosphate in enabling the binding to MD-2.

Figure 8

Ionic interactions or hydrogen bonds involving the 4′ phosphate or the Kdo carboxy group in LPS lacking a 4′ phosphate enable the binding of lipid A to either LBP (1.), soluble CD14 (sCD14) (2.) or via an intermediate state to MD-2 (3.). Dependent on the type of lipid A bound to MD-2 this leads to TLR4 multimerization (4.), a downstream signaling cascade and finally release of proinflammatory cytokines (5.).