Fasciola hepatica fatty acid binding protein inhibits the activation of TLR4 (LB288)

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a major component of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria and is a potent activator of the innate immune system. The immune response to LPS can lead to septic shock syndrome if the inflammatory response is amplified and uncontrolled which can be fatal. The receptors that recognize LPS are lipid binding protein (LBP), CD14, MD12 and Toll-like Receptor 4 (TLR-4) which all cooperates in the pathway activation. Today, there is much interest to develop TLR antagonists to control the innate immunity and regulation of innate immune responses. TLR antagonists currently under development are structural analogs of agonists and probably bind to the receptor but fail to signal or pathway activation. However, there is still a need for effective molecules that could prevent or circumvent the negative effect of inflammatory responses during a variety of human diseases. We demonstrated that the protein Fasciola hepatica fatty acid binding protein (FABP) has antagonist properties throug...