Abstract
Bacillus firmus strongly stimulates Ig synthesis in the cultures of human peripheral blood mononuclear leukocytes. As apparent from the character of Ig formation and blastic transformation, the stimulation has features of a polyclonal activation of B lymphocytes without substantial participation of T lymphocytes.B. firmus is a strong B cell polyclonal activator even for human cord blood lymphocytes. The most striking feature is the strong stimulation of IgA synthesis in both adult and cord blod lymphocytes. Several crude fractions were isolated fromB. firmus. None of them exhibited any remarkable enhancement of activity but the cytoplasmic fraction P-40 was clearly more potent than the intact bacilli. On the other hand, cell wall peptidoglycan, a well known polyclonal activator of B cells, had a much lower activity than whole bacteria. The effect ofB. firmus on the stimulation of Ig formation is thus relatively complex; it is not caused mainly by peptidoglycan but rather by some cytoplasmic constituents of the bacterium.
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Dedicated to Professor C. John on the occasion of his 75th birthday
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Prokešová, L., Julák, J., Nováková, M. et al. Polyclonal activation of human lymphocytes byBacillus firmus and its constituents. Folia Microbiol 40, 647–651 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02818523
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02818523