Chemical and biological properties of a purified lymphoreticular-stimulating fraction of Corynebacterium parvum (Propionibacterium acnes type I) (Plate XXXV)

Abstract

PLATE XXXVTHE chemical basis for the lymphoreticular-stimulating properties of Corynebacterium parvum and related organisms has been the subject of study for several years. Prevot and co-workers showed that activity, as measured by enhancement of carbon clearance, appeared to reside in the cell wall and was resistant to heat and formalin treatment. Lysis of the organisms, either mechanically or by phage, reduced or destroyed activity (Prkvot and Thouuenot, 1964; Prevot, Nguyen-Dang and Thouvenot, 1968).In more recent studies, several groups of workers have purified extracts from C. parvum cells or culture filtrates and tested them in a variety of biological-assay systems. Migliore-Samour et al. (1974), using a water extract of delipidated organisms which they considered to be peptidoglycan, showed adjuvant and antiviral effects. Lallouette et al. (1977) described a large-molecularweight anti-tumour fraction consisting of protein and carbohydrate. Dawes, Tuach and McBride (1974) and McBride, Dawes and Tuach (1976) parvum-derived lipids that had stimulatory and chemotactic properties. Finally, Millman, Scott and Halbherr (1977) partially purified an RNA-containing fraction from the cytoplasm of C. parvum that had anti-tumour properties.It is generally accepted that isolated cell walls or cell-wall fractions resulting from mechanical disintegration, phage-treatment or autolysis of C. parvum cells at best retain only part of the stimulatory activity of the whole cells and, at worst, may be totally inactive (Prkvot et al., 1968;Adlam, Reid and Torkington, 1975;Azuma et al. 1975;Millman et al., 1977).In a more recent study, Riveros-Moreno. Bomford and Scott (1978) found that the residual anti-tumour activity of cell walls derived from disrupted C. parvum cells was due to "non specific" macrophage-activation effects; attempts to restore full stimulatory activity to the cell-wall preparations by emulsifying them in oil or attaching them to oil droplets were unsuccessful.In the present study, rather than use mechanically disintegrated cells, we have treated whole organisms chemically and with enzymes to try to remove components unnecessary for stimulation and to leave behind materials that retain the immuno-stimulatory properties of the whole organisms. In our

Isolation, Identification, and Synthesis of 2,3-Diamino-2,3-Dideoxyglucuronic Acid: a Component ofPropionibacterium acnesCell Wall Polysaccharide

“…Unknown material from P. acnes polysaccharides giving blue spots with ninhydrin has been reported previously (1,2). However, beyond establishing that the material was probably carbohydrate in nature, it was not identified further.…”