title: The use of bacteria as probes for lectins in preparations of solubilized human tonsil cell membranes.
abstract: In earlier work we have shown that some bacteria bind naturally to lymphocyte subpopulations and that this binding may be due to lectin-carbohydrate interactions. Here we determined the possibility of using bacteria to probe for these lectins in solubilized tonsil cell membrane preparations. Since lectins are capable of agglutination, we determined the ability of human tonsil cell membrane extract (TCME) to agglutinate bacteria. We used Escherichia coli strain YS57 which does not bind to human lymphocytes and a mutant strain derived from it, E. coli UI 2023, which binds to about 50 percent of human lymphocytes. The UI 2023 was agglutinated while the YS57 was not; this agglutination was not due to antibodies or DNA. When E. coli UI 2023 was treated with periodate, it lost its ability to be agglutinated. The agglutination of E. coli UI 2023 was not blocked by any of the monosaccharides and disaccharides used but was blocked by the E. coli LPS, more specifically, by its carbohydrate moiety. Also, the E. coli UI 2023 absorbed the agglutinating factor while its parental strain, YS57, did not. Sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of TCME after absorption with bacteria showed that a band around 67kD was absent in the TCME absorbed by E. coli prevented the absorption by E. coli UI 2023 whereas Na2IO4-treated LPS did not. In addition, tonsil cell membrane was radioiodinated before obtaining the TCME; sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the radioiodinated TCME recovered after elution from E. coli UI 2023, but not from E. coli YS57, showed again a band around 67 kD.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
mesh_terms: D000371:Agglutination; D000372:Agglutination Tests; D000906:Antibodies; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000276:immunology; D004247:DNA; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D037102:Lectins / Q000032:analysis*; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D037102:Lectins; D004247:DNA