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Relationship: 3352
Title
LPS, increased leads to LPS cell membrane integration, increased
Upstream event
Downstream event
Key Event Relationship Overview
AOPs Referencing Relationship
| AOP Name | Adjacency | Weight of Evidence | Quantitative Understanding | Point of Contact | Author Status | OECD Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inhibition of neuropathy target esterase leading to delayed neuropathy via lysolecithin cell membrane integration | adjacent | Moderate | Brooke Bowe (send email) | Under development: Not open for comment. Do not cite |
Taxonomic Applicability
| Term | Scientific Term | Evidence | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homo sapiens | Homo sapiens | NCBI |
Sex Applicability
| Sex | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Unspecific |
Life Stage Applicability
Key Event Relationship Description
Elevated local concentrations of LPC have been known to disrupt cell membrane integrity and cause cellular death. Studies have indicated a few means of this process, the first of which is through increased absorption into cell membranes (Plemel, et al., 2018; McMurran, Zhao, & Franklin, 2019).
Evidence Collection Strategy
Literature reviews were conducted by searching through databases including PubMed and Google Scholar. Search terms included “organophosphates”, “OPIDN”, “OPIDP”, and “delayed neuropathy” used in combination with a variety of phrases such as “enzyme inhibition”, “demyelination”, “demyelinating lesions”, “weakness”, and “endogenous substrate.” After establishment of the general outline for the AOP, search terms broadened to commonly include the words “neuropathy target esterase”, “irreversible aging”, “lysolecithin”, “lysophosphatidylcholine”, “inflammation”, “chemokines”, “surfactant”, “membrane disruption”, “oligodendrocyte susceptibility”, and “oligodendrocyte death.” Exclusion criteria included publications that focused on nervous tissue damage that did not involve changes to oligodendrocytes or myelin considering that this pathway focused on a single mechanism of a larger overall AOP network, and the goal was to specifically focus on progression of demyelination causing delayed neuropathy. Additional resources were also identified in the references of publications explored during database searches and were used to further develop KEs.
Evidence Supporting this KER
Studies on glial cells of the central nervous system (CNS) treated with fluorescent-tagged LPC have demonstrated rapid incorporation into the cellular membrane of oligodendrocytes, as can be viewed in figure 3 (Plemel, et al., 2018). While these effects were observed in both oligodendrocytes and astrocytes, it has been suggested that oligodendrocytes might be particularly vulnerable to this cellular membrane integration since other cell types are capable of metabolizing LPC and reducing local concentrations whereas oligodendrocytes have not been shown to do this (McMurran, Zhao, & Franklin, 2019).

Figure 3: Images of immature mouse oligodendrocyte cell cultures (A) incubated with Nile Red to detect oligodendrocyte cell membranes and (B) treated with fluorescent-tagged (TopFluor) to detect the fluorescent-tagged LPC. Imaging revealed rapid LPC incorporation into cell membranes. Image adapted from: (Plemel, et al., 2018).
Biological Plausibility
Lysolecithins are amphipathic molecules with a hydrophilic head and hydrophobic tail that share many similar properties to surfactants. Due to the structural similarity to membrane lipids, surfactants are able to incorporate themselves into cell membranes and reduce the surface tension leading to a disruption of the stability of the membrane (Parsi, 2015). This detergent effect is theorized to also be able to occur with LPC considering their shared physicochemical properties, and therefore has been a point of investigation on the mechanisms of LPC-induced nervous cell death.
Empirical Evidence
Uncertainties and Inconsistencies
Known modulating factors
Quantitative Understanding of the Linkage
Response-response Relationship
Time-scale
Known Feedforward/Feedback loops influencing this KER
Domain of Applicability
References
McMurran, C. E., Zhao, C., & Franklin, R. J. (2019). Toxin-Based Models to Investigate Demyelination and Remyelination. In D. A. Lyons, & L. Kegel, Oligodendrocytes: Methods and Protocols (pp. 377–396). Springer.
Parsi, K. (2015). Interaction of detergent sclerosants with cell membranes. Phlebology, 30(5), 306-315.
Plemel, J. R., Michaels, N. J., Weishaupt, N., Caprariello, A. V., Keough, M. B., Rogers, J. A., . . . Yong, V. W. (2018). Mechanisms of lysophosphatidylcholine-induced demyelination: A primary lipid disrupting myelinopathy. Glia, 66(2), 327-347.