Interaction of Bovine Lymphocytes with Products of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) produce a number of virulence factors that interfere with lymphocyte functions, including mitogen- and antigen-activated proliferation and pro-inflammatory cytokine synthesis. Here we describe how to isolate lymphocyte subsets from bovine peripheral blood as well as methods that we have used to study the effects of STEC products on lymphocyte proliferation and cytokine production. We also describe an assay that allows for the detection of association of a given protein with lymphocytes.