Extraction of lipopolysaccharides from water using a thermoresponsive polymer.

Lipopolysaccharides(LPS)were successfully extracted from water by polymer-mediated extraction based on the thermoresponsive precipitation of a water-soluble polymer:poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)[PNIPAAm]in aqueous solutions.LPS, having a hydrophobic lipid moiety and hydrophilic polysaccharides, were less extractive than lipids, but well concentrated to the small volume of the aggregated polymer precipitates(polymer phase).In contrast, hydrophilic compounds, including saccharides, urea, creatinine, serum proteins, and inorganic ions, hardly incorporated into the polymer phase.Collected LPS could be recovered to a chitosan bead column by passing through an aqueous PNIPAAm solution of LPS.