title: Processing of streptococcal cell walls by rat macrophages and human monocytes in vitro.
abstract: Phagocytosis and degradation of cell walls by peritoneal macrophages obtained from Fischer 344 or Buffalo rats was measured in tissue culture. Group A cell wall antigen, detected by immunofluorescence, persisted in cultured rat macrophages for at least 40 days, whereas group D cell wall material was eliminated by 6 to 8 days. This same pattern of persistence of group A cell walls and elimination of group D cell walls was observed in cultures of human monocytes followed for 24 days in culture. Group A streptococcal cell walls labeled with either [14C]alanine or [14C]glucose were handled in a similar manner by macrophages from either Fischer 344 or Buffalo rats. In contrast, [14C]glucose-labeled group D cell walls were degraded at a much faster rate. Buffalo macrophages were more efficient than Fischer 344 macrophages in degrading group D cell walls. The inability of macrophages to degrade group A cell walls was not due to a failure of lysosomes to fuse with phagosomes. Neither serum lysozyme in the culture medium nor cell wall-associated autolysin contributed to the degradation of group D cell walls by macrophages. Neither immune serum nor macrophages obtained from specifically immunized rats influenced phagocytosis or persistence of group A cell walls.
mesh_terms: D000409:Alanine / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D013293:Enterococcus faecalis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology*; D009000:Monocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D010587:Phagocytosis; D051381:Rats; D011915:Rats, Inbred BUF; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D013297:Streptococcus pyogenes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D005947:Glucose; D000409:Alanine