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. 1981 Dec;34(3):949–956. doi: 10.1128/iai.34.3.949-956.1981

Membrane-damaging and cytotoxic effects on human fibroblasts of alpha- and beta-hemolysins from Aeromonas hydrophila.

M Thelestam, A Ljungh
PMCID: PMC350961  PMID: 7333677

Abstract

The effects of two hemolysins (alpha and beta) from Aeromonas hydrophila on human lung fibroblasts were investigated. The toxins differed distinctly in regard to the morphological changes they produced. The alpha-hemolysin caused rounding of the cells. The beta-hemolysin caused a striking vacuolization of the cytoplasm in cells which remained spread out on the growth surface. The toxins also differed as to relative size of the initial lesions they induced in the fibroblast membrane, scored by leakage of different-sized cytoplasmic markers. The alpha-hemolysin induced larger lesions than did the beta-hemolysin. It was indirectly demonstrated that the alpha-hemolysin did not bind, or bound only transiently, to the fibroblasts. By contrast, the beta-hemolysin bound rapidly and firmly. The cytopathogenic response to the alpha-hemolysin was reversible, whereas cells treated with small amounts of the beta-hemolysin for only 1 min invariably died within a few hours. Thus, the two hemolysins from A. hydrophila, despite many biochemical similarities, show essential dissimilarities in their interactions with cultured cells.

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Selected References

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

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