LPS-hyporesponsiveness of mnd mice is associated with a mutation in Toll-like receptor 4

Toll-like receptors (Tlrs) are transmembrane proteins that have recently been shown to play a critical role in the innate immune recognition of microbial constituents. Among this family, Tlr4 is a crucial signal transducer for lipopolysaccharide (LPS), the major component of the Gram-negative bacteria outer cell membrane. In this paper, we report that C57BL/6.KB2-mnd mice, a model of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, do not respond to LPS. This defect is associated with a spontaneous mutation in Tlr4 consisting of a large insertion within exon 2 predicting a frameshift mutation and a truncated protein.