Cell wall preparation consisting of group A carbohydrate and peptidoglycan moieties from Streptococcus pyogenes activates murine B lymphocytes.
Cell walls from Streptococcus pyogenes strain Sv (Group A, M type 3) were lysed with M1 endo-N-acetylmuramidase, and the group A-specific carbohydrate antigen was purified by Sephadex G-100 gel filtration. The initial eluting antigen (M1gA) peak was assessed for mitogenic and polyclonal lymphocyte-activating properties in murine spleen cell cultures. Good mitogenic responses were induced over a broad dose range (1-100 micrograms) with M1gA in both BALB/c and C3H/HeJ splenic cultures. Similar mitogenic responses were induced in nude (nu/nu) and nu/+ splenic cultures, suggesting that M1gA is a B cell mitogen. The M1gA induced anti-trinitrophenyl, anti-sheep erythrocytes, and anti-horse erythrocytes polyclonal plaque-forming cell responses in splenic cell cultures. Studies with purified splenic B cells and M1gA suggest that the mitogenic responses were indeed thymic independent. These studies clearly indicate that native group A carbohydrate antigen is a B cell mitogen and polyclonal B cell activator.
D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000276:immunology; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000276:immunology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D008934:Mitogens; D010457:Peptidoglycan / Q000276:immunology; D013297:Streptococcus pyogenes / Q000276:immunology*
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D002241:Carbohydrates; D008934:Mitogens; D010457:Peptidoglycan