Medical Microbiology and Immunology

, Volume 161, Issue 1, pp 53–61 | Cite as

Studies on the immunochemistry ofStaphylococcus aureus cell wall: Antigenicity of pentaglycine bridges

  • Rajinder Singh Ranu
Article
Received:

Abstract

The specific antigenicity of pentaglycine bridges in cell walls ofS. aureus was investigated. The antistaphylococcal sera (against11 Oeding strains ofS. aureus) were found to contain antibodies of two different specificities against polyglycyl peptides; one type reacted with polyglycyl peptides with a free amino terminus and the other with polyglycyl peptides with a free carboxyl terminus. These antibodies were assayed by passive hemagglutination with tanned sheep red cells sensitized with N-polyglycyl-BSA (containing polyglycyl peptides with a free amino terminus) or with C-polyglycyl-BSA (containing polyglycyl peptides with a free carboxyl terminus). Only the antibodies against N-polyglycyl peptides were absorbed byS. aureus strains and byS. epidermidis. Heterologous bacterial species failed to absorb antibodies of either specificity. Antibodies against polyglycyl peptides were used to confirm the mechanism of action of penicillin onS. aureus cell wall.

Keywords

Peptide Cell Wall Carboxyl Penicillin Bacterial Species 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 1975

Authors and Affiliations

  • Rajinder Singh Ranu
    • 1
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of MicrobiologyUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia
  2. 2.Massachusetts Institute of Technology Program in Health Sciences and Technology 16-512, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyHarvard UniversityCambridgeUSA

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