The Effect of Specific Antiserum on the Resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to Intracellular Killing by Phagocytes of Human Blood

Abstract

The high natural resistance of gonococci showing a characteristic ' double highlight' (DH) colonial morphology (Penn, Veale & Smith, 19773) to intracellular killing by human phagocytes was markedly reduced by addition of rabbit antiserum to the phagocytosis medium or by preincubation of organisms with antiserum. Antisera raised to three different DH gonococcal strains showed a complex pattern of specificity in phagocytosis tests with the homologous organisms and three other DH strains. The effect of antiserum could be neutralized by adsorption with intact organisms or with extracts, prepared ultrasonically, of the homologous strain. Antiserum also promoted the intracellular killing of a strain which had a 'single highlight' colonial morphology (Penn et al., 1977b) and a low natural resistance to phagocytic killing, but adsorption with this strain neutralized the antiserum less consistently than the DH strain. The neutralization of antiserum-mediated promotion of intracellular killing by extracts of organisms naturally resistant to such killing may provide an assay for the aggressins responsible for this resistance.

Investigation of the Determinants of the Survival of Neisseria gonorrhoeae within Human Polymorphonuclear Phagocytes

“…1): in two-dimensional immunoelectrophoresis with antisera against BS4 (agar) the Antiserum against whole organisms. Rabbit antisera to BSDH and BS4 (agar) were raised by multiple intravenous injections of live organisms in Trypticase Soy Broth (TSB; Baltimore Biological Laboratories) as described by Veale et al (1978) for production of hyperimmune antisera. Antiserum to BSDH was used first in the phagocytosis tests but was superseded later by antiserum to BS4 (agar) without any change in the pattern of results.…”

The Intracellular Survival and Growth of Gonococci in Human Phagocytes

“…However, the testscan indicatewhether or not intracellular survival and growth occur (Veale et al, , 1978 Counts of extracellular and intracellular gonococci in urethral exudate. Samples from 33 male patients with acute gonococcal urethritis were examined.…”

Outer Membrane Proteins of Neisseria gonorrhoea Associated with Survival within Human Polymorphonuclear Phagocytes

“…Rabbit antiserum to BS4 (agar) was raised as described by Veale et al (1978) and Parsons etal. (1981).…”

“…OMV neutralized the ability of antisera raised against whole gonococci to drastically reduce the capacity of strain BS4 (agar) to survive within PMN phagocytes. Furthermore, analysis by SDS-PAGE of OMV/WGA precipitates from lithium chloride extracts of strain BS4 (agar) and strain BSSH, which was more susceptible to phagocyte killing than strain BS4 (agar) and yielded OMV with poor antiserum-neutralizing activity, suggested that three proteins were associated with resistance to phagocyte killing.The capacity of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strain BS4 (agar) to survive within human polymorphonuclear (PMN) phagocytes was drastically reduced by prior treatment with antiserum to whole gonococci (Veale et al, 1978;Parsons et al, 1981), but not if the antiserum was absorbed with surface washes of strain BS4 (agar) (Parsons et al, 1981). This implied that the washes contained a component that determined resistance to killing by PMN phagocytes.…”

“…The capacity of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strain BS4 (agar) to survive within human polymorphonuclear (PMN) phagocytes was drastically reduced by prior treatment with antiserum to whole gonococci (Veale et al, 1978;Parsons et al, 1981), but not if the antiserum was absorbed with surface washes of strain BS4 (agar) (Parsons et al, 1981). This implied that the washes contained a component that determined resistance to killing by PMN phagocytes.…”