title: Adjuvant activity of mycobacterial fractions: adjuvant activity of synthetic N-acetylmuramyl-dipeptide and the related compounds.
abstract: Immunological activity of synthetic cell wall peptidoglycan subunits was examined in guinea pigs and mice. It was concluded that the minimal adjuvant-active subunit of cell wall peptidoglycan for the induction of delayed-type hypersensitivity to monoazobenzenearsonate-N-acetyl-L-tyrosine and for circulating-antibody formation to bacterial alpha-amylase and the thymus-independent antigen DNP-Ficoll was N-acetylmuramyldipeptide, MurNAc-L-Ala-D-isoGln. N-acetylmuramyldipeptide and 6-O-stearoyl-N-acetylmuramyldipeptide showed no adjuvant activity in the generation of cell-mediated cytotoxic effector cells in the spleens of C57Bl/6J mice after in vivo immunization with the allogeneic antigen mastocytoma P815-X2 cells, but N-acetylmuramyldipeptide showed adjuvant activity after in vitro sensitization of C57Bl/6J mouse spleen cells to the alloantigen mitomycin C-treated DBA/2 mouse spleen cells. It was also shown that 6-O-stearoylation of N-acetylmuramylpeptide could not potentiate the adjuvant activity of N-acetylmuramyldipeptide. Mitogenic and antitumor activities were not observed in either N-acetylmuramyldipeptide or 6-O-stearoyl-N-acetylmuramyldipeptide in mouse systems.
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000276:immunology; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D046508:Culture Techniques; D003601:Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic; D004151:Dipeptides / Q000276:immunology* / Q000494:pharmacology; D005362:Ficoll / Q000276:immunology; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006968:Hypersensitivity, Delayed / Q000139:chemically induced; D012515:Mast-Cell Sarcoma; D051379:Mice; D008934:Mitogens; D009163:Mycobacterium bovis / Q000276:immunology; D010455:Peptides / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology; D010457:Peptidoglycan / Q000276:immunology*; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D004151:Dipeptides; D008934:Mitogens; D010455:Peptides; D010457:Peptidoglycan; D005362:Ficoll