Advances in lipopolysaccharide structural variations and immune escape in Yersinia pestis
Plague,caused by Yersinia pestis,is a zoonotic disease that infects both humans and animals.Y.pestis not only encodes various virulence factors that can disrupt host immune signaling but also can modify its lipopolysaccharide(LPS)struc-ture,thereby evading host immune surveillance and potently suppressing the host's immune response,in an important molecu-lar mechanism underlying its high pathogenicity.The LPS of Y.pestis lacks an O antigen,and its lipid A structure possesses a unique temperature transition regulatory mechanism.At different temperatures,Y.pestis forms lipid A with different numbers of acyl side chains,which plays a pivotal role in the evasion of host innate immune recognition and clearance.Here,we present a comprehensive review of research progress in the biosynthetic regulation,structural variation,and immune escape mechanism of Y.pestis LPS,to provide a reference for the study of the molecular mechanisms of pathogens using LPS structural modifica-tions to elude host innate immune defenses.