Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Infection and Immunity logoLink to Infection and Immunity
. 1973 Dec;8(6):969–976. doi: 10.1128/iai.8.6.969-976.1973

Filamentous Capsulated Streptococci from the Human Respiratory Tract III. Immunochemical Studies of the Cross-Reactivity Between the Cell Wall Antigens of a Filamentous Streptococcus and of Pneumococcus

Walter W Karakawa 1, Judith A Kane 1, Robert Austrian 1
PMCID: PMC422958  PMID: 4150386

Abstract

A cell wall-associated polysaccharide has been isolated from a noncapsulated mutant, 89R50, of the alpha-hemolytic filamentous streptococcus of provisional capsular type 89. Chemical analysis of the polysaccharide indicates that it consists of galactosamine, glucosamine, glucose, and phosphorus. Immunological cross-reactivity was observed between the streptococcal cell wall antigen and antibody to the cell wall-like capsular polysaccharide of pneumococcus. This cross-reactivity appears attributable to similarities in the teichoic acid moieties rather than in the mucopeptide moieties of the two polymers. No chemical or immunological differences were observed in the cell wall carbohydrate of the noncapsulated streptococcus, 89R50, and that of its capsulated progenitor. It is suggested that antibody to this cell wall polysaccharide might serve as a basis for grouping other filamentous strains of streptococci of diverse capsular types, the cell wall antigens of which show similar cross-reactivity with that of pneumococcus.

Full text

PDF
969

Selected References

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

  1. BLEIWEIS A. S., KARAKAWA W. W., KRAUSE R. M. IMPROVED TECHNIQUE FOR THE PREPARATION OF STREPTOCOCCAL CELL WALLS. J Bacteriol. 1964 Oct;88:1198–1200. doi: 10.1128/jb.88.4.1198-1200.1964. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bernheimer H. P., Wermundsen I. E., Austrian R. Qualitative differences in the behavior of pneumoncoccal deoxyribonucleic acids transforming to the same capsular type. J Bacteriol. 1967 Jan;93(1):320–333. doi: 10.1128/jb.93.1.320-333.1967. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bornstein D. L., Schiffman G., Bernheimer H. P., Austrian R. Capsulation of pneumococcus with soluble C-like (Cs) polysaccharide. I. Biological and genetic properties of Cs pneumococcal strains. J Exp Med. 1968 Dec 1;128(6):1385–1400. doi: 10.1084/jem.128.6.1385. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Brundish D. E., Baddiley J. Pneumococcal C-substance, a ribitol teichoic acid containing choline phosphate. Biochem J. 1968 Dec;110(3):573–582. doi: 10.1042/bj1100573. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. CURTIS S. N., KRAUSE R. M. ANTIGENIC RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN GROUPS B AND G STREPTOCOCCI. J Exp Med. 1964 Oct 1;120:629–637. doi: 10.1084/jem.120.4.629. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gotschlich E. C., Liu T. Y. Structural and immunological studies on the pneumococcal C polysaccharide. J Biol Chem. 1967 Feb 10;242(3):463–470. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. KRAUSE R. M., MCCARTY M. Studies on the chemical structure of the streptococcal cell wall. I. The identification of a mucopeptide in the cell walls of groups A and A-variant streptococci. J Exp Med. 1961 Jul 1;114:127–140. doi: 10.1084/jem.114.1.127. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kane J. A., Karakawa W. W., Pazur J. H. Glycans from streptococcal cell walls: structural features of a diheteroglycan isolated from the cell wall of Streptococcus bovis. J Immunol. 1972 May;108(5):1218–1226. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kane J., Lackland H., Karakawa W. W., Krause R. M. Chemical studies on the structure of mucopeptide isolated from Streptococcus bovis. J Bacteriol. 1969 Jul;99(1):175–179. doi: 10.1128/jb.99.1.175-179.1969. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Karakawa W. W., Braun D. G., Lackland H., Krause R. M. Immunochemical studies on the cross-reactivity between streptococcal and staphylococcal mucopeptide. J Exp Med. 1968 Aug 1;128(2):325–340. doi: 10.1084/jem.128.2.325. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Karakawa W. W., Kane J. A., Buettger C., Austrian R. Filamentous capsulated streptococci from the human respiratory tract. I. Antigenic attributes of provisional capsular type 83 and its relationship to streptococci of so-called group M. Infect Immun. 1973 Dec;8(6):952–961. doi: 10.1128/iai.8.6.952-961.1973. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Karakawa W. W., Kane J. A. Characterization of the surface antigens of Staphylococcus aureus, strain K-93M. J Immunol. 1972 May;108(5):1199–1208. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Karakawa W. W., Lackland H., Krause M. An immunochemical analysis of bacterial mucopeptides. J Immunol. 1966 Dec;97(6):797–804. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Karakawa W. W., Lackland H., Krause R. M. Antigenic properties of the hexosamine polymer of streptococcal mucopeptide. J Immunol. 1967 Dec;99(6):1178–1182. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Karakawa W. W., Maurer P. H., Walsh P., Krause R. M. The role of D-alanine in the antigenic specificity of bacterial mucopeptides. J Immunol. 1970 Jan;104(1):230–237. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. McCARTY M., LANCEFIELD R. C. Variation in the group-specific carbohydrate of group A streptococci. I. Immunochemical studies on the carbohydrates of variant strains. J Exp Med. 1955 Jul 1;102(1):11–28. doi: 10.1084/jem.102.1.11. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Mosser J. L., Tomasz A. Choline-containing teichoic acid as a structural component of pneumococcal cell wall and its role in sensitivity to lysis by an autolytic enzyme. J Biol Chem. 1970 Jan 25;245(2):287–298. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. PARK J. T., HANCOCK R. A fractionation procedure for studies of the synthesis of cell-wall mucopeptide and of other polymers in cells of Staphylococcus aureus. J Gen Microbiol. 1960 Feb;22:249–258. doi: 10.1099/00221287-22-1-249. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Pazur J. H., Anderson J. S., Karakawa W. W. Glycans from streptococcal cell walls. Immunological and chemical properties of a new diheteroglycan from Streptococcus faecalis. J Biol Chem. 1971 Mar 25;246(6):1793–1798. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. 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]
  21. Schiffman G., Bornstein D. L., Austrian R. Capsulation of pneumococcus with soluble cell wall-like polysaccharide. II. Nonidentity of cell wall and soluble cell wall-like polysaccharides derived from the same and from different pneumococcal strains. J Exp Med. 1971 Sep 1;134(3 Pt 1):600–617. doi: 10.1084/jem.134.3.600. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Schleifer K. H., Krause R. M. The immunochemistry of peptidoglycan. I. The immunodominant site of the peptide subunit and the contribution of each of the amino acids to the binding properties of the peptides. J Biol Chem. 1971 Feb 25;246(4):986–993. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Young F. E. Fractionation and partial characterization of the products of autolysis of cell walls of Bacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol. 1966 Oct;92(4):839–846. doi: 10.1128/jb.92.4.839-846.1966. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Infection and Immunity are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES