Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of Experimental Medicine logoLink to The Journal of Experimental Medicine
. 1966 Oct 1;124(4):661–678. doi: 10.1084/jem.124.4.661

AN IMMUNOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE GROUP A STREPTOCOCCUS AND MAMMALIAN MUSCLE

John B Zabriskie 1, Earl H Freimer 1
PMCID: PMC2138256  PMID: 5922288

Abstract

By means of the immunofluorescent staining technique, antisera to a wide variety of serological types of Group A and A variant streptococci were found to contain an antibody which reacted with mammalian striated muscle, both skeletal and cardiac, as well as with smooth muscle in the endocardium and in the media of arterioles. Similar heart-reactive antibodies were not present in antisera to most other groups of hemolytic streptococci and to other Gram-positive cocci. Chemical and serological studies clearly pointed to the cell (protoplast) membrane of the Group A streptococcus as the locus of the antigenic determinant of this heart-reactive antibody. In addition, preliminary studies suggested that the reaction between this streptococcal antibody and cardiac tissue represented an immunological relationship between the sarcolemma, the membrane of a mammalian muscle cell and the cell membrane of a bacterium, the hemolytic streptococcus.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1.3 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. COONS A. H. The beginnings of immunofluorescence. J Immunol. 1961 Nov;87:499–503. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. FOLCH J., LEES M., SLOANE STANLEY G. H. A simple method for the isolation and purification of total lipides from animal tissues. J Biol Chem. 1957 May;226(1):497–509. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. FOX E. N. INTRACELLULAR M PROTEIN OF GROUP A STREPTOCOCCUS. J Bacteriol. 1963 Mar;85:536–540. doi: 10.1128/jb.85.3.536-540.1963. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. FREIMER E. H. Studies on L forms and protoplasts of group A streptococci. II. Chemical and immunological properties of the cell membrane. J Exp Med. 1963 Mar 1;117:377–399. doi: 10.1084/jem.117.3.377. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Fox E. N., Wittner M. K. The multiple molecular structure of the M proteins of group A streptococci. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1965 Oct;54(4):1118–1125. doi: 10.1073/pnas.54.4.1118. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. KAPLAN M. H. IMMUNOLOGIC RELATION OF STREPTOCOCCAL AND TISSUE ANTIGENS. I. PROPERTIES OF AN ANTIGEN IN CERTAIN STRAINS OF GROUP A STREPTOCOCCI EXHIBITING AN IMMUNOLOGIC CROSS-REACTION WITH HUMAN HEART TISSUE. J Immunol. 1963 Apr;90:595–606. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. KAPLAN M. H., MEYESERIAN M. An immunological cross-reaction between group-A streptococcal cells and human heart tissue. Lancet. 1962 Apr 7;1(7232):706–710. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(62)91653-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. KAPLAN M. H., SVEC K. H. IMMUNOLOGIC RELATION OF STREPTOCOCCAL AND TISSUE ANTIGENS. III. PRESENCE IN HUMAN SERA OF STREPTOCOCCAL ANTIBODY CROSS-REACTIVE WITH HEART TISSUE. ASSOCIATION WITH STREPTOCOCCAL INFECTION, RHEUMATIC FEVER, AND GLOMERULONEPHRITIS. J Exp Med. 1964 Apr 1;119:651–666. doi: 10.1084/jem.119.4.651. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. KONO T., KAKUMA F., HOMMA M., FUKUDA S. THE ELECTRON-MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE ISOLATED SARCOLEMMA OF THE RAT SKELETAL MUSCLE CELL. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1964 Jul 29;88:155–176. doi: 10.1016/0926-6577(64)90163-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. KRAUSE R. M. Studies on the bacteriophages of hemolytic streptococci. II. Antigens released from the streptococcal cell wall by a phage-associated lysin. J Exp Med. 1958 Dec 1;108(6):803–821. doi: 10.1084/jem.108.6.803. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. MAXTED W. R. The active agent in nascent phage lysis of streptococci. J Gen Microbiol. 1957 Jun;16(3):584–595. doi: 10.1099/00221287-16-3-584. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. NASTUK W. L., PLESCIA O. J., OSSERMAN K. E. Changes in serum complement activity in patients with myasthenia gravis. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1960 Oct;105:177–184. doi: 10.3181/00379727-105-26050. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. RONDLE C. J., MORGAN W. T. The determination of glucosamine and galactosamine. Biochem J. 1955 Dec;61(4):586–589. doi: 10.1042/bj0610586. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Rothbard S., Watson R. F. Immunologic relations among various animal collagens. J Exp Med. 1965 Sep 1;122(3):441–454. doi: 10.1084/jem.122.3.441. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. SCHMIDT W. C. THE LYSIS OF CELL WALLS OF GROUP A STREPTOCOCCI BY STREPTOMYCES ALBUS ENZYME TREATED WITH DIISOPROPYL FLUOROPHOSPHATE. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LYTIC REACTION AND THE SOLUBLE CELL WALL FRAGMENTS. J Exp Med. 1965 May 1;121:771–792. doi: 10.1084/jem.121.5.771. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Swift H. F., Wilson A. T., Lancefield R. C. TYPING GROUP A HEMOLYTIC STREPTOCOCCI BY M PRECIPITIN REACTIONS IN CAPILLARY PIPETTES. J Exp Med. 1943 Aug 1;78(2):127–133. doi: 10.1084/jem.78.2.127. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. VAZQUEZ J. J., DIXON F. J. Immunohistochemical study of lesions in rheumatic fever, systemic lupus ervthematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis. Lab Invest. 1957 May-Jun;6(3):205–217. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. WANNAMAKER L. W. Electrophoretic studies of the extracellular products of group A Streptococci. J Exp Med. 1958 Jun 1;107(6):783–795. doi: 10.1084/jem.107.6.783. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Experimental Medicine are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES