THE SOLUBLE SPECIFIC SUBSTANCE OF A STRAIN OF FRIEDLANDER'S BACILLUS : PAPER I

THE RELATION BETWEEN ANTIANAPHYLAXIS AND ANTIBODY BALANCE : I. THE ROLE OF EXCESS OF CIRCULATING ANTIBODY IN HYPERSENSITIVENESS

1. Sensitized guinea pigs injected with normal rabbit or guinea pig serum previous to intravenous inoculation of antigen may be protected against a few lethal doses of antigen. The protection is greater with foreign than with homologous serum and appears to be related roughly to the amount of serum introduced. 2. Sensitized guinea pigs injected with antibody-containing serum preliminary to intravenous injection of antigen, show no greater refractoriness to anaphylaxis than do those injected with normal serum. 3. Moreover, in many instances, the injection of an excess of antibody into the circulation of sensitized guinea pigs, leads to an increased susceptibility of these animals to anaphylaxis. 4. These results indicate that an excess of circulating antibody is not responsible for a state of antianaphylaxis, but on the contrary, may contribute toward the anaphylactic reaction itself.

BLOOD GROUP ACTIVITY OF GRAM-NEGATIVE BACTERIA

Distribution of blood group A, B, and H(O) activities among 282 aerobic Gram-negative bacteria, many isolated from the blood of patients, has been studied. Almost half of these bacteria were found to be blood group active. About 10 per cent of the organisms exhibited high, disproportional activities, which in some instances approached those of crude human blood group mucoids. No significant, specific D (Rh_o), M, or N activity was found in approximately 70 members of the Enterobacteriaceae. An attempt was made to correlate the observed activity of a given organism of known O somatic antigen with its monosaccharide components. The presence of those sugars which account for the specificity of human blood group mucoids was noted. The bearing of these findings on the origin of human anti-A and anti-B isoantibodies has been mentioned.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF FRIEDLANDER'S BACILLI OF DIFFERENT TYPES

In a study of the distribution of the specific types of Friedländer's bacillus, it is shown that: (1) Of 80 strains 52 per cent belong to Type A, 15 per cent to Type B, 9 per cent to Type C, and 24 per cent to Group X. (2) Type A contains for the most part strains derived from diseases of man and more than 70 per cent are associated with pneumonia in man. (3) Type B includes the greatest number of strains from animal sources, while the heterogeneous strains comprising Group X come from the greatest variety of diseases. It was demonstrated that in a patient suffering with pneumonia due to Friedländer's bacillus (Type A), a specific precipitin reaction of the urine occurred in the corresponding (Type A) immune serum. A study of the sugar fermentation reactions of Friedländer's bacillus shows that (1) there is no correlation between serological type and fermentative activity; (2) the fermentation reactions are variable and therefore not reliable for distinguishing Friedländer's bacillus from closely allied organisms; (3) the strains of Group X show the greatest variation in fermentation, and (4) of 15 strains unable to ferment lactose, 13 belong to Type A.

IMMUNOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS OF CELL CONSTITUENTS OF ENCAPSULATUS PNEUMONIAE (FRIEDLANDER'S BACILLUS)

1. The soluble specific substance of Friedländer's bacillus is non-antigenic when dissociated from the cell. It is different for each type and it is highly reactive in the corresponding anti-S serum. 2. The nucleoprotein is antigenic, induces the species or protein antibody which reacts with capsule-free cells and protein derived from all types. Antiprotein sera do not react with either the encapsulated cell or the polysaccharide derived from it, and they offer no protection against infection. 3. Anti-R and antiprotein sera are identical in their behavior. 4. The carbohydrate of Friedländer's bacillus is demonstrable in filtrates of actively growing cultures and in the blood and urine of infected animals. 5. The protein is demonstrable in filtrates of only old, disintegrating cultures.

ON THE ROLE OF CARBOHYDRATE HAPTENS IN BACTERIAL ANAPHYLAXIS

1. In passively sensitized animals bacterial anaphylaxis has been produced, in vivo and in vitro, with haptens from B. lactis aerogenes, the pneumobacillus, and a yeast. 2. The smallest amount of hapten causing fatal anaphylaxis is less than the minimal amount of protein which will cause death in properly sensitized animals. 3. The haptens used were largely carbohydrates, and gave none of the protein reactions, but since they did contain a small amount of nitrogen we cannot yet assert positively that carbohydrate alone will produce shock. 4. Since haptens will not sensitize animals we must conclude that the anaphylactogenic and shock-producing parts of the antigen are not identical. 5. These experiments provide further evidence of the close relationship of precipitins to anaphylaxis.

A "SOLUBLE SPECIFIC SUBSTANCE" DERIVED FROM GUM ARABIC

1. By partial acid hydrolysis a specific carbohydrate may be isolated from gum arabic (gum acacia). This carbohydrate is comparable in its precipitating activity for Type II (and Type III) antipneumococcus serum with the bacterial soluble specific substances themselves. 2. On hydrolysis this fraction yields galactose and two or more complex sugar acids, one of which appears to be a disaccharide add comparable with those isolated from the specific polysaccharides of the Type III pneumococcus and the Type A Friedländer bacillus. 3. The significance of these findings is discussed.

THE SOLUBLE SPECIFIC SUBSTANCE OF FRIEDLANDER'S BACILLUS : PAPER II. CHEMICAL AND IMMUNOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS OF PNEUMOCOCCUS TYPE II AND OF A STRAIN OF FRIEDLANDER'S BACILLUS

The chemical and immunological properties of the soluble specific substances of a strain of Friedländer's bacillus and Pneumococcus Type II are described and correlated, and the serological and antigenic similarity of these biologically unrelated organisms is discussed as an example of heterogenetic specificity among bacteria.

CHEMO-IMMUNOLOGICAL STUDIES ON CONJUGATED CARBOHYDRATE-PROTEINS : VII. IMMUNOLOGICAL SPECIFICITY OF ANTIGENS PREPARED BY COMBININGalpha- AND beta-GLUCOSIDES OF GLUCOSE WITH PROTEINS

The chemical and immunological properties of the p-aminophenol α- and β-glucosides of glucose are described and correlated. The results are discussed with reference to their possible bearing on the chemo-immunological nature of the specific polysaccharides of bacterial origin.

A SEROLOGICAL STUDY OF THE POLYSACCHARIDES OF MENINGOCOCCUS, B. ANTHRACIS, B. PROTEUS, B. SUBTILIS AND B. MESENTERICUS

1. The meningococcus polysaccharide reacts with a broad precipitable carbohydrate antibody in common with those of B. anthracis, B. subtilis, B. proteus and B. mesentericus. 2. The anthrax and proteus polysaccharides are specific in the higher dilutions of serum. 3. Antianthrax serum contains two different polysaccharide precipitable antibodies, one specific and the other non-specific. 4. Agglutinins have no relation to the carbohydrate precipitable substance, specific or non-specific. 5. An immunological method is given for the study of the probable chemical relation or similarity of polysaccharides of different bacteria similar to that given by Heidelberger, Goebel and Avery from a strain of Friedländer bacillus and Pneumococcus Type II.

IMMUNOLOGICAL REACTIONS BETWEEN AGAR-AGAR AND SOME BACTERIAL ANTISERA

1. As found by Sordelli and Mayer, agar adsorbed on bacteria produces agar-reacting antibodies in animals injected with these organisms. 2. False cross-agglutination and precipitin reactions can be produced in sera containing agar-reacting antibodies by organisms grown on agar. Zozaya's publication in this field (3) requires partial revision on this account. 3. There is suggestive immunological evidence of chemical similarity between the specifically reactive groups of agar-agar, and the C substance of the pneumococcus.

STUDIES ON PATHOGENIC B. COLI FROM BOVINE SOURCES : IV. A BIOCHEMICAL STUDY OF THE CAPSULAR SUBSTANCE

1. The soluble specific substance obtained from a capsulated strain of B. coli is not identical with any specific substance heretofore described. It is a carbohydrate, composed of 80 per cent of hexose, probably partly of dextro- and partly of levorotatory sugar, since the rotation of the hydrolysate is low. Glucuronic acid is probably present in the molecule. 2. Crude "residue" or specific substance obtained from the uncapsulated mutant was about 100 times less active with homologous serum than similar material from the capsulated strain. This supports the view that capsular substance and soluble specific substance are the same. In cases where there is a well marked capsule, the specific substance is probably produced in greater amount and located peripherally. 3. Capsular substance is probably significant for virulence when functioning as a morphological capsule. It is present in filtrates of young culture only in very small amounts.

A BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF ENCAPSULATUS PNEUMONIAE (FRIEDLANDER'S BACILLUS)

A biological classification has been made of thirty strains of Friedländer's bacillus. This study reveals that there exist among these strains three sharply defined and specific types and one heterogeneous group. The three types are Type A, fifteen strains; Type B, six strains; Type C, three strains; and Group X, six strains. The agglutination, agglutinin adsorption, protection, thread, and precipitin reactions have been employed in the working out of this classification, and the types have been proved highly specific by means of each serological test.

A STUDY OF PNEUMOCOCCUS AUTOLYSIS

1. Autolysis of Pneumococcus is accompanied by proteolysis, which results in an increase in amino and non-coagulable nitrogen. 2. Autolysis of Pneumococcus is accompanied by lipolysis during which there is a liberation of ether-soluble fatty acids. 3. When extracts containing the active intracellular enzymes are added to heat-killed pneumococci, lysis of the cells occurs and there is an increase in the non-coagulable and amino nitrogen, comparable to the changes accompanying spontaneous autolysis. 4. When extracts containing the active intracellular enzymes are added to emulsions of the alcohol-soluble lipoids extracted from pneumococci, an increase in the ether-soluble fatty acid occurs. 5. Sodium desoxycholate in excess inhibits the action of pneumococcus protease; it does not inhibit the action of pneumococcus lipase. 6. When suspensions of pneumococci are cooled to 0°C., a temperature at which the rate of enzyme action is greatly retarded, the organisms go into solution rapidly when sodium desoxycholate is added, but this process is not accompanied by lipolysis or proteolysis. It does not seem probable, therefore, that the "bile" solution of pneumococci is identical with the phenomenon of autolysis as ordinarily understood and measured. 7. The relation of enzyme action to antigenic dissociation is discussed.

DECOMPOSITION OF THE CAPSULAR POLYSACCHARIDE OF PNEUMOCOCCUS TYPE III BY A BACTERIAL ENZYME

1. An organism has been isolated from peat soil which decomposes the specific capsular polysaccharide of Type III Pneumococcus. 2. The isolation has been made possible by the use of a synthetic mineral medium containing the specific polysaccharide as sole source of carbon. By repeated transfers in this medium the potential capacity of the organism to decompose the specific substance has been progressively increased. 3. The organism is a pleomorphic bacillus, motile and spore-bearing, exhibiting metachromatic granules; its reaction to the Gram stain varies according to the medium on which it is grown. It is strictly aerobic and grows well in plain broth and peptone solutions; it does not produce gas in any media and it forms small amounts of acid only on dextrin, galactose, lactose, salicin, and trehalose; its growth is inhibited by glucose. 4. The organism decomposes the capsular polysaccharide of Type III Pneumococcus aerobically, between pH 6.2 and 7.8, at room temperature and at 37.5°C., but not at 54°C. The decomposition of the specific substance is inhibited by the presence in the medium of other nutrients, such as peptones, which act as a more readily available source of energy. The action of the organism is specific; it does not attack the soluble specific substance of Type I or Type II Pneumococcus, nor any of the other bacterial polysaccharides thus far tested. 5. The organism possesses an endocellular enzyme. This enzyme has been extracted by autolysis of the bacterial cells; in sterile solution it exhibits the same specific action as do the organisms from which it is derived, decomposing only the capsular polysaccharide of Type III Pneumococcus. 6. This enzyme decomposes the Type III specific polysaccharide under anaerobic as well as under aerobic conditions; it is inactivated at 60–65°C.; the rate of decomposition of the specific substance is not affected by the presence of normal serum. 7. There exists a quantitative relationship between the total amount of specific substance decomposed and the amount of enzyme preparation used; the existence of this relation makes it possible to express the activity of a given enzyme preparation in terms of the minimal amount required for the complete decomposition of a given amount of specific substance. 8. The specific decomposition of the capsular polysaccharide of Type III Pneumococcus, by the organism as well as by the enzyme it produces, illustrates once more the specificity of the types of Pneumococcus and confirms the fact that the capsular polysaccharides, and not some impurities carried along with them, are responsible for type specificity.

THE PROTECTIVE ACTION OF A SPECIFIC ENZYME AGAINST TYPE III PNEUMOCOCCUS INFECTION IN MICE

The bacterial enzyme which decomposes the purified capsular polysaccharide of Type III Pneumococcus in vitro also destroys the capsules of the living organisms growing in media and in the animal body. Potent preparations of this same enzyme protect mice against infection with virulent Type III Pneumococcus. The protective action is type-specific. The protective activity of the specific enzyme is destroyed by heat (70°C. for 10 minutes). The enzyme remains in an effective concentration 24 to 48 hours after its injection into normal mice. The enzyme has been found to exert a favorable influence on the outcome of an infection already established at the time of treatment. A definite relationship has been found to exist between the activity of the enzyme in vitro and its protective power in the animal body. The mechanism of the protective action is discussed with special reference to the relation between the decapsulation of the bacteria by the enzyme and the phagocytic response of the host.

The effect of polysaccharides on the reaction between erythrocytes and viruses, with particular reference to mumps virus

Polysaccharides which cause inhibition of the multiplication of mumps virus in the allantoic sac may or may not cause inhibition of hemagglutination by the virus. Moreover, such substances may or may not prevent adsorption of the virus by erythrocytes. The available evidence indicates that polysaccharides active as inhibitors do not block adsorption of mumps virus by cells of the living allantoic membrane. With influenza A, influenza B, and Newcastle disease viruses, as well as with PVM, there also appears to be a lack of correlation between the in vitro and in vivo inhibiting activity of polysaccharides.

The inhibitory effect of polysaccharide on mumps virus multiplication

Polysaccharides derived from type-specific Friedländer bacilli cause inhibition of the multiplication of mumps virus in the allantoic sac of the chick embryo. As little as 5 µg. of polysaccharide is effective as an inhibitor. Inhibition of multiplication is obtained when polysaccharide is injected as long as 4 days after inoculation of virus. Chemical studies have shown that the structural configurations of the polysaccharide responsible for specific serological activity are not identical with those which determine the inhibitory effect relative to mumps virus. The possible mechanisms of the inhibition of viral multiplication by means of polysaccharides are discussed.

A resistant variant of mumps virus; multiplication of the variant in the presence of inhibitory quantities of Friedländer bacillus polysaccharide

Serial passage of mumps virus in the presence of inhibitory quantities of the capsular polysaccharide of Friediänder bacillus type B results in the appearance of a variant strain of the virus. Multiplication of the variant virus is not inhibited by the polysaccharide. A similar resistant variant is obtained with polysaccharide in a single cycle of multiplication when very large inocula of mumps virus are employed. The resistant variant is indistinguishable from the parent strain as to infectivity, reactivity with erythrocytes, and immunological properties, but appears to have a somewhat slower rate of multiplication. Serial passage of the resistant variant in the absence of polysaccharide results in the reappearance of a sensitive strain. It is suggested that mumps virus populations are inhomogeneous; that naturally occurring variants are present in such populations and possess distinctive properties; that the use of a chemical inhibitor of mumps virus multiplication makes possible the selection of a variant possessing a predictable property. The findings are discussed in relation to the mechanism of inhibition of mumps virus multiplication by polysaccharide.

Localization of antigen in tissue cells; V. Capsular polysaccharide of Friedländer bacillus, type B, in the mouse

The fate of the capsular polysaccharide of Friedländer B bacillus in the mouse after its intravenous administration was studied by means of homologous antibody labelled with fluorescein. The results indicate that this acid polysaccharide, like pneumococcal polysaccharide, types II and III, was rapidly taken up by phagocytic cells throughout the body, where it persisted in decreasing concentration for more than 33 days. It was widely distributed in the capillary endothelium and on collagenous fibres in all organs. It made a transient appearance in or on lymphocytes in the spleen and lymph nodes. It was found in the hepatic epithelium and in the bile; in the juxtaglomerular segment of the distal renal tubule and in an occasional cast in the lumens of collecting tubules; in the epithelium of some uterine glands; and in cells in the steroid-secreting tissues of the ovary, suprarenal cortex, and perhaps of the testis. In joints the synovial membranes contained large amounts of antigen, and some also penetrated into cartilage cells adjacent to the joint cavity. Osteoblasts and a few osteocytes also took up the polysaccharide. When administered by inhalation, the polysaccharide was found in high concentration in the pulmonary macrophages but could not be found constantly in other lung elements.

Specific degradation of Cryptococcus neoformans 3723 capsular polysaccharide by a microbial enzyme. I. Isolation, partial purification, and properties of the enzyme

A partially purified intracellular enzyme from a species of Alcaligenes is described which specifically initiates the degradation of the he heteropolysaccharide of Cryptococcus neoformans, isolate 3723, The enzyme is active in the presence of serum and can be inactivated by heating at 45 °C for 10 minutes, The kinetics of the enzyme reaction are similar to those of other enzymes. Recovery and identification of the four known monosaccharides from enzymatic hydrolyzates suggest the presence of a number of other enzymes in these preparations.

T cell recognition of a tumor-associated glycoprotein and its synthetic carbohydrate epitopes: stimulation of anticancer T cell immunity in vivo

The Thomsen, Friedenreich (TF) and Tn carbohydrate antigens are expressed on the vast majority of human adenocarcinomas and are associated with aggressive behavior of certain tumors. TF and Tn antigens are also expressed on certain murine cancer cell lines including TA3-Ha, a highly lethal, transplantable mammary adenocarcinoma. TF and Tn cancer-associated carbohydrate haptens were synthesized, conjugated to protein carriers and used to demonstrate that delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) effector T cells can specifically recognize and respond to carbohydrate determinants on the TA3-Ha tumor-associated glycoprotein, epiglycanin. The effector cells were shown to have the helper DTH phenotype (Lyt1+, Lyt2-, Thy1+) and it was demonstrated that they respond to specific carbohydrate determinants in an MHC-restricted fashion. These experiments provide the rationale for the use of synthetic tumor-associated glycoconjugates (S-TAGs) to stimulate anticancer T cell immunity. In support of this hypothesis, it was shown that preimmunization with the appropriate S-TAGs could provide a degree of protection against a subsequent tumor transplant and that antitumor effector Lyt1+, Lyt2- T cells could be generated in vitro using the appropriate S-TAGs as antigens.

REACTIONS OF RABBITS TO INTRACUTANEOUS INJECTIONS OF PNEUMOCOCCI AND THEIR PRODUCTS : VIII. THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS OF HYPERSENSITIVENESS TO PNEUMOCOCCUS AND STREPTOCOCCUS

1. Following repeated intracutaneous injections of heat-killed S or R pneumococci, rabbits acquire an increased skin reactivity to the nucleoprotein of both Pneumococcus and indifferent Streptococcus. 2. Rabbits acquire a skin reactivity to the proteins of both the organisms mentioned after receiving intracutaneous injections of heat-killed indifferent streptococci. 3. Injections of pneumococci into the skin are followed in some rabbits by an eye sensitivity to pneumococcus protein but not to streptococcus protein nor to suspensions of either living organism. 4. Injections of indifferent streptococci into the skin are followed, in some rabbits, by an eye sensitivity to suspensions of live indifferent Streptococcus, but not to R Pneumococcus or to the nucleoprotein of either organism. Measured in terms of bacterial specificity therefore, the eye sensitivity possesses a specificity which is not shared by the skin sensitivity. 5. The sera of rabbits injected intracutaneously with pneumococci or indifferent streptococci contain agglutinins for both R Pneurnococcus and indifferent Streptococcus. 6. Only those animals injected with pneumococci acquire resistance to pneumococcal infection.

An Investigation of the Bacilli of the Capsulatusmucosus Group

The Bacillus capsulatus-mucosus group may be said to have originated with the discovery of the pneumobacillus by Friedländer in 1883. This organism was isloated from the lung in a case of croupous pneumonia, and it is interesting to note, as can be ascertained from a study of the literature, that the discovery appears to have been of an accidental nature, and, as was pointed out by Weicheselbaum, that Friedläder had really confused it with the pneumococcus. Subsequently, numerous other bacilli, which showed such marked similarity to the pneumobacillus in morphological, cultural and biological characteristics as to render differentiation among them a matter of extreme difficulty, were isolated by various workers from widely different sources. In a paper published in 1896 Fricke furnishes a list of the representatives of this group of organisms which had up to that time been found. Many of these were subsequently used as type strains by later workers and some are still available and frequently employed.