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. 1977 Jan;15(1):7–12. doi: 10.1128/iai.15.1.7-12.1977

Interactions between mycoplasma pneumoniae and the first components of complement.

W Bredt, B Wellek, H Brunner, M Loos
PMCID: PMC421322  PMID: 832909

Abstract

Mycoplasma pneumoniae cells were rounded and killed by fresh guinea pig serum (GPS) which did not contain detectable amounts of antibody. The first component of complement (C1) was bound by M. pneumoniae in considerable amounts from both GPS and purified C1. The C1 bound by the cells was reacting with C4. Sequential addition of C1, C4, C2, and C-ethylenediaminetetraacetate to glass-grown M. pneumoniae cells resulted in rounding of a significant number of cells. M. orale and M. fermentans showed a reduced binding capacity for C1 as compared with M. pneumoniae. Both species were only slowly killed by fresh GPS, whereas M. hominis was as sensitive as M. pneumoniae. The results suggest an antibody-independent interaction between some components of the membrane surface of M. pneumoniae and C1, resulting in an activation of the complement system leading to the killing of the mycoplasma 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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