Differences in Cryptococcus neoformans capsular polysaccharide structure influence assembly of alternative complement pathway C3 convertase on fungal surfaces.

Binding of complement component C3 and Factor B to Cryptococcus neoformans serotypes A through D via the alternative complement pathway was measured in a system containing fresh nonimmune human serum. Serotypes B and C (C. neoformans var. gattii) bound approximately half as many molecules of both complement components as serotypes A and D (C. neoformans var. neoformans). In contrast, removal of xylosyl and glucuronyl side chains from the mannan main chain of capsular polysaccharide by the Smith degradation procedure resulted in binding of similar quantities of C3 to each of the four serotypes. We conclude that the relatively high degree of side chain substitution of capsular polysaccharide from C. neoformans variety gattii contributes to inefficient surface assembly of the alternative pathway C3 convertase. Inefficient binding of alternative pathway complement components to serotypes B and C may contribute to the relative difficulty in successfully treating infections caused by these organisms.

Promotion of hepatocellular foci in female rats by chenodeoxycholic acid.

Chenodeoxycholic acid (CDC), a dihydroxylated primary bile acid, was evaluated for promotional activity in the liver of rats using a two-stage initiation-promotion model. CDC is a primary bile acid that can attain high concentrations in serum and liver during induced or naturally occurring hepatocellular disorders. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were injected once (i.p.) with diethylnitrosamine (DEN, 150 mg/kg) or sterile physiologic saline (SAL, 0.85% NaCl). Two weeks later, rats in each group were placed into one of two subgroups and fed either NIH-31 mash (Control) or NIH-31 mash containing 0.5% CDC for a 10 week period. At the end of the feeding period, blood and liver samples were collected for determination of bile acid profiles and quantitation of hepatocellular foci respectively. Serum samples were analyzed for concentrations of individual bile acids using a HPLC method that utilizes a post-column enzymatic reaction and fluorescence detection. Liver slices from the left hepatic lobe were stained for foci positive for placental glutathione S-transferase. In serum, significant increases occurred in concentrations of all forms of CDC and were accompanied by mild, insignificant increases in lithocholic acid. Decreased serum concentrations occurred in all forms of cholic and deoxycholic acids. Analysis of liver sections revealed that rats treated with DEN-CDC had significant increases in numbers and volume of foci compared to those treated with DEN-Control. For rats in groups DEN-CDC and DEN-Control, the numbers of foci per square centimeter were 32 and 12; per cubic centimeter, 2221 and 937; and the per cent volume of foci, 1.487 and 0.385 respectively. In this study, CDC was a promoter of hepatocellular foci. Because concentrations of CDC in liver and serum increase in a variety of hepatobiliary disorders, the possibility that increases in endogenous concentrations can enhance the formation of hepatocellular foci is being explored.

Aspergillus fumigatus complement inhibitor: production, characterization, and purification by hydrophobic interaction and thin-layer chromatography.

Aspergillus fumigatus has previously been shown to produce a soluble extracellular inhibitor of the alternative complement pathway, called Aspergillus complement inhibitor, or CI. We now report an efficient method for production of CI which relies on the fact that poorly conidiating cultures yielded CI activity with approximately sevenfold-higher potency than CI produced by conidiating cultures. CI from poorly conidiating cultures provided 50% inhibition of alternative pathway-mediated binding of 125I-labeled complement component C3 to cryptococcal blastoconidia at a mean concentration of 60 micrograms/ml. The ability of crude CI to inhibit the alternative complement pathway seemed to be independent of intact protein or polysaccharide structure, as evidenced by resistance of inhibitory activity to digestion by proteases, including subtilisin, alpha-chymotrypsin, papain, and pepsin as well as endoglycosidases F and H. Separation of the active inhibitory component of CI from contaminating materials contained in crude CI preparations was achieved by using Phenylsuperose hydrophobic interaction chromatography in a fast protein liquid chromatography system. The active material proved to be extremely hydrophobic, desorbing from the column only during elution with ethanol; it contained only 15% protein and 5% polysaccharide. Furthermore, results from preparative thin-layer chromatography indicated that lipids which comigrated with phosphatidylserine/phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylethanolamine possessed significant complement-inhibitory activity. Taken together, these data suggested that phospholipids from A. fumigatus contributed to the functional activity of CI.