The Removal of Endotoxins in the Actual Production Process

Endotoxins, also called lipopolysaccharides (LPS), are mostly found in the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, which are widely used as a common expression system to produce some biological products. The presence of small amounts of endotoxin can cause side effects in host organism such as endotoxin shock, tissue injury, and even death. Due to these reactions, it is essential to remove endotoxins in the final products. In the actual production process, endotoxin contamination can occur at any process unit. In this article, we review the structure and characteristics of endotoxins and the effects that it causes in vivo. The endotoxin removal strategies are also elaborated according to the relevant mechanism. Besides, the endotoxin removal also faces enormous challenges in the actual production process.