Electrokinetic properties of endotoxins and their significance for the limulus amoebocyte lysate test.

The electrokinetic properties of the endotoxins of Escherichia coli and Serratia marcescens have been examined. Both endotoxins are negatively charged, with the zetapotential being increased by the presence of cations whose relative influence resembles the Schulze-Hardy rule for colloid stability. Fe3+ and Th4+ ions are capable of reversing the negative charge of the endotoxin particles to positive. These cations were found to have a strong inhibitory effect on the activity of endotoxins in the limulus amoebocyte lysate test but the inhibitory effect did not parallel changes in the zetapotential because the effect occurred at concentrations too low to affect this parameter.