Patel P V, Martin P M, Tan E L, Nairn C A, Parsons N J, Goldner M, Smith H
Department of Microbiology, University of Birmingham, UK.
J Gen Microbiol. 1988 Feb;134(2):499-507. doi: 10.1099/00221287-134-2-499.
Serum-susceptible (SS) Neisseria gonorrhoeae were induced to resistance (SR) to complement-mediated killing by fresh human serum (FHS) by a small-Mr factor(s) from guinea-pig blood in 3 h at 37 degrees C, but not in the presence of bacteriostatic concentrations of chloramphenicol or neomycin, indicating that proteins mediated the acquisition of resistance. SDS-PAGE protein profiles of lysates of equal numbers of gonococci showed only two qualitative differences between SR and SS organisms, both in minor components (a protein A of about 205 kDa in the former and not the latter and vice versa for a protein B of about 16 kDa). Many proteins, however, including the three principal outer-membrane proteins, were present in larger amounts in SR gonococci. The lack of major changes in proteins when resistance is acquired was confirmed by immunoblotting the two protein profiles with the IgG of hyper-immune rabbit anti-SR and anti-SS sera, of rabbit anti-SR serum after absorption by SS organisms and of FHS used alone and after absorption with SS organisms. The IgM of FHS, which is responsible for most of the bactericidal activity, showed only faint reactions with a few proteins common to both SS and SR gonococci and no reactions when the FHS was absorbed with SS gonococci. This is in contrast to the strong and different reactions given with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) components of SS and SR organisms, which, prepared from the former organisms, neutralize the bactericidal activity of FHS. Hence, the relatively small protein changes accompanying induction are less likely to be directly responsible for serum resistance than the more profound LPS changes.
血清敏感型（SS）淋病奈瑟菌在37℃下经来自豚鼠血液的小分子因子作用3小时后，可被诱导产生对新鲜人血清（FHS）补体介导杀伤的抗性（SR），但在存在抑菌浓度的氯霉素或新霉素时则不会出现这种情况，这表明蛋白质介导了抗性的获得。等量淋球菌裂解物的SDS - PAGE蛋白质谱显示，SR菌和SS菌之间仅存在两个定性差异，且都在次要成分中（前者有一个约205 kDa的蛋白A，后者没有；反之，后者有一个约16 kDa的蛋白B，前者没有）。然而，包括三种主要外膜蛋白在内的许多蛋白质在SR淋球菌中的含量更高。通过用超免疫兔抗SR和抗SS血清的IgG、经SS菌吸收后的兔抗SR血清以及单独使用和经SS菌吸收后的FHS对这两种蛋白质谱进行免疫印迹，证实了获得抗性时蛋白质没有重大变化。FHS的IgM负责大部分杀菌活性，它与SS菌和SR菌共有的少数几种蛋白质仅有微弱反应，而当FHS用SS菌吸收后则无反应。这与SS菌和SR菌的脂多糖（LPS）成分产生的强烈且不同的反应形成对比，从前者制备的LPS可中和FHS的杀菌活性。因此，诱导过程中伴随的相对较小的蛋白质变化比更显著的LPS变化更不太可能直接导致血清抗性。
