Ethanol-soluble substances isolated from Escherichia coli culture filtrate induce polymorphonuclear chemotaxis.

Substances chemotactic (CT) for human PMN were isolated from the culture medium of Escherichia coli O2 : Kl grown to stationary phase. The ethanol soluble fraction of the lyophilized culture filtrate, which contained the bulk of CT activity, was gel filtrated on Sephadex G-10. The 5 X 10(3) molecular weight fraction showed the highest CT activity. On the basis of partial chemical characterization the active CT substances probably consist of glycopeptides and lipids originating from the cell envelope.