0000000000022081
AUTHOR
F. Clas
The Role of the Classical Pathway for the Bactericidal Effect of Normal Sera Against Gram-Negative Bacteria
Many gram-negative bacteria are killed after treatment with normal serum. This phenomenon was already described in 1889 by Buchner. The serum-bactericidal effect is abolished when serum has been incubated for 30 min at 56° C. Gram-positive bacteria are less sensitive than gram-negative bacteria to direct killing, although gram-positive cocci are opsonized by the action of serum mediated by antibodies and complement (Inoue et al. 1968; Johnston et al. 1969). Normal sera exhibit bactericidal and bacteriolytic properties against some gramnegative strains; whereas, other gram-negative strains are serum resistant. It has been shown that serum from C4-deficient guinea pigs is able to kill some gr…
The role of Components of the Outer Membrane of Gram-Negative Bacteria in the Serum-Bactericidal Effect
Abstract Effective killing-capacity of normal human and guinea pig sera depended on Ca ++ , C1q, C2 and C4. Fixation- and transfer-tests revealed that C1 and C1q were bound more tightly to the serum-sensitive R-forms of Salmonella strains than to the serum-resistant S-forms. Since all experiments were done in the absence of antibodies these findings provide evidence that the antibody-independent C1-binding is one of the initial reactions of the serum-mediated killing. This reaction seems to be influenced by the sugar-portion of the lipopolysaccharide (LPs) of the outer membrane: C1-binding to the bacteria occurs with higher affinity the shorter the LPS-molecule. This indicates that other ou…
Interaction of Bacterial Endotoxin (LPS) with Fluid Phase and Macrophage Membrane Associated C1q, the FC-Recognizing Component of the Complement System
The bactericidal activity of normal serum was first described by Buchner in 1889 (10). This effect is abolished when serum has been incubated for 30 min at 56°C. Gram positives are less sensitive than Gram negative bacteria to direct killing, although gram positive cocci are opsonized by the action of serum mediated by antibodies and complement (22). It was found that most of the smooth strains of gram negative bacteria are serum resistant; whereas, the corresponding rough forms are extremely serum sensitive (32, 37). Thus evidence was provided that the composition of the bacterial surface may influence the reaction of the bacteria with the lytic system. The bacteriolytic properties of seru…