38, 6th ASM Conference on Streptococcal Genetics, Ashville, NC, USA]. GBS β-h/c contributes to virulence in animal studies. When administered to neonatal rats via the pulmonary route, NH GBS mutants possess a 1000-fold greater LD50 than the wild-type parent strains, confirming a role in the pathogenesis of pneumonia and systemic spread [52]. In an adult mouse model of GBS arthritis, hemolysin e...

Feeley and Pittman (Bull. World Health Organ. 28:347, 1963) speculated that a hemolysin (HL) destructive enzyme produced by El Tor vibrio at a late stage of growth lowers the HL titer. We proved the production of an HL-destructive factor (HDF) by strains of classical cholera and El Tor vibrio and established an in vitro method for quantitative titration of HDF. HL was prepared by growing a hemo...

Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) have been identified as preferred target cells for Escherichia coli hemolysin in human blood (Bhakdi, S., Greulich, S., Muhly, M., Eberspächer, B., Becker, H., Thiele, A., and Hugo, F. (1989) J. Exp. Med. 169, 737-754). Leukotriene and 5-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid generation was investigated in human PMN challenged with E. coli hemolysin in the absence or pr...

Lipid bilayer experiments were performed in the presence of hemolysin of Escherichia coli. The toxin had a rather low activity in membranes formed of pure lipids, such as phosphatidylcholine or phosphatidylserine. In membranes from asolectin, a crude lipid mixture from soybean, hemolysin was able to increase the conductance by many orders of magnitude in a steep concentration-dependent fashion,...

Aspergillus fumigatus, a pathogenic mould causing a wide range of diseases including aspergillosis, produces a series of toxic substances which appear to act in an additive and/or synergic way on cells. Aspergillosis generally occurs in immunocompromised hosts or is associated with organ transplantation. From the muscul skeleton system the vertebrae, ribs and orbit are the most commonly affecte...

Burkholderia cepacia is an opportunistic pathogen that has become a major threat to individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF). In approximately 20% of patients, pulmonary colonization with B. cepacia leads to cepacia syndrome, a fatal fulminating pneumonia sometimes associated with septicemia. It has been reported that culture filtrates of clinically derived strains of B. cepacia are hemolytic. In ...

Bacillus cereus causes a highly fulminant endophthalmitis which usually results in blindness. We previously concluded that hemolysin BL (HBL), a tripartite necrotizing pore-forming toxin, is a probable endophthalmitis virulence factor because it is highly toxic to retinal tissue in vitro and in vivo. We also determined that B. cereus produces additional retinal toxins that might contribute to v...

We previously reported that the aerolysin-like hemolysin of Aeromonas sobria stimulates T84 cells to produce cyclic AMP, which then emerges in the culture medium. In order to clarify the mechanism of action of the hemolysin, we examined the involvement of adenosine nucleotide. The results show that the hemolysin stimulates T84 cells to release ATP, which is then converted to adenosine by ectonu...

Liu, Pinghui V. (University of Louisville, Louisville, Ky.). Factors that influence toxigenicity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J. Bacteriol. 88:1421-1427. 1964.-Hemolysin, lecithinase, and protease of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were produced with cellophane-covered plates and completely synthetic agar of simple composition containing alpha-alanine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glucose, and salts. The...