title: Isolation and characterization of an amphipathic antigen from Corynebacterium diphtheriae.
abstract: Amphipathic antigen was isolated from Corynebacterium diphtheriae Park-Williams number 8 cells by extraction with 47.5% phenol, nuclease treatment and gel filtration on Sepharose 6B. The chemical composition of the amphipathic antigen was hexose (73.8%), pentose (4.6%), fatty acids (9.8%) and glycerol (4.5%). The amphipathic antigen contained arabinose and mannose as sugars at a molar ratio of 1:6 and the major fatty acids were palmitic (C16:0) acid and palmitoleic (C16:1) acid (64.2% and 26.2%, respectively). The amphipathic antigen sensitized sheep erythrocytes and had definite immunobiological activities: viz mitogenic activity on murine splenocytes, stimulatory activity on guinea pig peritoneal macrophages and human complement activation. Deacylation of the amphipathic antigen with alkali treatment lost the sheep erythrocyte-sensitizing ability and some immunobiological activities. The isolated amphipathic antigen described is not a lipoteichoic acid and is different from the teichoic acid of C. diphtheriae.
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis; D000606:Amino Sugars / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D003167:Complement Activation; D003353:Corynebacterium diphtheriae / Q000276:immunology*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D006801:Humans; D005779:Immunodiffusion; D007122:Immunoelectrophoresis; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D013481:Superoxides / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D000606:Amino Sugars; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D005227:Fatty Acids; D013481:Superoxides