Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) Isolation Kit

The outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria contains lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a low molecular weight carbohydrate with a molecular mass of 10-20 kDa. It is heterogeneous and composed of O antigen (a repeating glycan polymer), core oligosaccharide (which links the O antigen to Lipid A - the third component, and non-carbohydrate components such as phosphate and amino acids groups. Lipid A, has multiple fatty acids which serve to anchor LPS into the bacterial membrane allowing the O antigen and core oligosaccharide to protrude and contributes to a major part of the toxicity of gram-negative bacteria. Also known as endotoxin, when consumed by animals, LPS induces a strong inflammatory response and/or sepsis. 

Suitable for the isolation of Lipopolysaccharides from outer membrane of gram negative bacteria.

The Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) Isolation Kit uses bacterial membrane lysis buffer and protein digestion to yield micrograms of LPS from bacterial culture (approximately 1-4% of dry weight). This kit does not use chloroform or phenol like traditional methods, and it will yield pure LPS in less than 2 hours that can be easily characterized and quantified.