Immunopotentiating activities of cell walls, peptidoglycans, and teichoic acids from two strains of Listeria monocytogenes

Abstract

Crude cell wall (CCW), enzyme purified wall (PF), peptidoglycans (PEP), and teichoic acid fractions from two strains of Listeria monocytogenes (EGD and a human isolate) were analyzed by electron microscopy, chemical analyses, and various immunological assays. Electron microscopy and chemical analyses revealed that both strains were quite similar. The CCW, PF, and PEP fractions were mitogenic for mouse lymphocytes, could activate macrophages in vivo but not in vitro, and stimulated nonspecific immunity in vivo to Candida albicans. The PF and PEP fractions but not the CCW induced migration inhibition factor production. The CCW and PEP fractions were tested and found to elevate natural killer activity in vivo. Teichoic acid fractions had no activity in the above assays. Since most of the immunological activities were retained in the PEP fraction, we examined this fraction to determine the kinetics of the mitogenic response and the nature of the responding cell population. The peak mitogenic response occurred on day 2 over a 6-day period. This response was not enriched in T-cell-enriched populations but followed the pattern of LPS in B-cell-enriched populations. * Corresponding author. 170 sterile wire screen into 5 ml of cold tissue culture medium.

Induction of release of tumor necrosis factor from human monocytes by staphylococci and staphylococcal peptidoglycans

“…A recent study documented the importance of endogenous TNF in host resistance to Listeria monocytogenes infections (18). In mice, it was found that nonspecific resistance induced by streptococcal cell walls was dependent on the PG moiety (19). In conclusion, induction of TNF locally and possibly also systemically may, in part, explain the protective effect of prior treatment with staphylococcal cells, cell walls, and PG against a variety of infections.…”

“…They found that in a guinea pig model of staphylococcal foreign body infection both locally induced (by staphylococcal PG) and locally injected TNF prevented the subsequent development of infection by inoculation of S. aureus. This local effect of TNF in preventing infection may explain observations in older studies that animals could be protected against a variety of infections after prior treatment with intact cells or cell walls of grampositive organisms, such as Corynebacterium parvum (1), Lactobacillus casei (25), Listeria monocytogenes (19), and group A streptococci (24). Prior intravenous treatment of mice with S. epidermidis strains resulted in an enhanced protection of mice against subsequent infection with Listena monocytogenes (9).…”

Enhancement of resistance to Escherichia coli infection in mice by dihydroheptaprenol, a synthetic polyprenol derivative

“…Recently, a variety of microorganisms and their components have been shown to be biologic response modifiers with the ability to enhance normal defense mechanisms against infections (7,8,18,19,23), to augment humoral and cell-mediated immune responses (4, 21), or to inhibit tumor cells (5,14,24).…”

Enhancement of Phagocytosis and Bactericidal Activity of Neutrophils in Miniature Pigs by Dihydroheptaprenol, a Synthetic Polyprenol Derivative

“…Hitherto, a variety of microorganisms and their components have been shown to enhance host defense mechanisms against infections in experimental animals (4,5,8). Very recently, we reported that dihydroheptaprenol (DHP), a low-molecular-weight synthetic polyprenol derivative ( Fig.…”