Lipopolysaccharide: a tool and target in enterobacterial vaccine development

Abstract Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is an essential component of Gram-negative bacteria. While mutants exhibiting truncated LPS molecules are usually over-attenuated, alternative approaches that affect the extent or timing of LPS expression, as well as its modification may establish the optimal balance for a live vaccine strain of sufficient attenuation and retained immunogenicity. On the other hand, a specific immune response to LPS molecules in itself is capable of conferring protective immunity to certain enterobacterial pathogens. Therefore, purified LPS derivatives could be used as parenteral vaccines. This review summarizes various LPS-based vaccination strategies, as well as approaches that utilize LPS mutants as whole-cell vaccines.