Abstract
We have previously reported that cultures of C. albicans activated the amebocyte lysate clotting cascade of the Japanese horseshoe crab Tachypleus tridentatus. In order to isolate the active agent in these cultures, hydrophilic molecules were solubilized by autoclaving the cells in distilled water and testing the resulting aqueous extract. Strongly positive results were obtained. Because previous work showed that the cascade could be activated by synthetic β-glucans, we isolated naturally occurring β-glucans from the fungi, using the alkaline Fehling's solution tehnique of Peat and of Grimmecke. β-glucans isolated in this fashion activated the cascade. By contrast, commercially prepared α-glucans (glycogen, starch) had no effect.
In contrast with these findings, commercial amebocyte lysates of the American horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus gave equivocal and inconsistent results.
The possibility that our results were due to contaminating endotoxin was excluded in two ways. First, when quantities of endotoxin were deliberately added to our preparations in reconstruction experiments they were undetectable after our washing procedures. Second, our preparations did not react appreciably with a Tachypleus preparation (Seikagaku Kogyo, Tokyo) made specific for endotoxin by the removal of an alternate activation pathway. It is postulated that it is this pathway that is activated by fungal β-glucans. Clinical applications based on this differential activation of the cascade by fungal and bacterial products are currently being explored.
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Hodes, D., Hass, A., Heon, D. et al. ACTIVATION BY CANDIDAL B-GLUCANS OF THE AMEBOCYTE LYSATE CLOTTING CASCADE OF THE JAPANESE HORSESHOE CRAB TACHYPLEUS TRIDEHTATUS. Pediatr Res 21 (Suppl 4), 326 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00956
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00956