Serum bactericidal activity against Haemophilus influenzae.

The requirement for an intact thiolester bond in C3 for assembly of the membrane attack complex and bactericidal activity was demonstrated in a system permitting only alternative pathway activation. Serum depleted of C3 and C4 by treatment with potassium bromide was reconstituted with forms of C3 with an intact (native C3) or disrupted (NH3.C3) thiolester bond, and bactericidal activity against Haemophilus influenzae b was determined. For strain 885 in high-antibody-containing serum, reconstitution with native C3 was associated with marked bactericidal activity (log10 kill in 60 min 1.01 +/- 0.08) compared with reconstitution with NH3.C3 (log10 kill -0.04 +/- 0.19, p less than 0.001). Similar results were obtained with other strains of H. influenzae b. In serum lacking type-specific antibody no alternative pathway-mediated bactericidal activity was detected against any of the strains examined, even when native C3 was added to KBr serum. These experiments indicate how the biochemical structure of C3 directs its functions; only forms of C3 with an intact thiolester bond, which can covalently bind to bacterial surfaces, can serve as the C5 convertase and generate bacterial activity. In addition these experiments demonstrate an absolute antibody dependence for alternative pathway-mediated bactericidal activity against H. influenzae.