Purification and characterization of erythrogenic toxins. IV. Communication: mitogenic activity of erythrogenic toxin produced by Streptococcus pyogenes strain NY-5.

Some in vitro reactions involved in the mitogenic activity of a purified erythrogenic toxin from the group A streptococcus strain NY-5 (ET NY-5) were studied. The optimal dose in the human blood lymphocyte transformation test was 1 to 10(-1) microgram/ml lymphocyte culture, the maximum of 3H-thymidine incorporation was on day 3 or 4. The mitogenic activity showed the signs of nonspecificity, nevertheless, a specific mitogenic effect could not be ruled out either. When Con A and ET NY-5 were added simultaneously in high or low doses at the beginning of lymphocyte cultivation, antagonism or an additive effect was observed, respectively. Incubation of lymphocytes with ET NY-5 resulted in a decrease of mitogenic activity in the supernatants. Erythrocytes had no similar binding activity. ET NY-5 acts as a T-cell mitogen; 98% of ET NY-5-stimulated lymphoblasts formed E rosettes with sheep red blood cells. Thin-layer isoelectric focusing experiments revealed two mitogenic peaks corresponding to toxin types A and C in the ET preparation.