Dynamics of streptococcus histone retention by mouse kidneys.

To study the interaction of streptococcal histone-like protein with renal tissue, 2 groups of 12 mice were injected intravenously with either radioiodinated histone or bovine serum albumin. At intervals over 48 hr, 2 mice from each group were anesthetized and perfused with tissue culture medium and the amounts of radioactivity were measured in blood, urine, and kidneys. The streptococcal protein rapidly disappeared from the blood and accumulated in renal tissue. Kidney radioactivity was maximal at 2 hr and then declined steadily over the ensuing 46 hr. Retention of streptococcal protein in renal tissue was 2 orders higher than that of BSA throughout the experiment. Immunofluorescence staining of kidney sections showed that the histone protein was adsorbed to the basement membranes of the glomeruli and collecting tubules. There were similar rates of excretion of radioactivity in urine by the two groups of mice. Injection of preformed complexes of streptococcal histone and rabbit antibodies into a third group of mice resulted in deposits of immune complexes in glomeruli but did not change the overall rate at which the radiolabeled streptococcal protein was distributed. The accumulation of streptococcal histone in renal tissue, independently of antibodies or while contained in circulating immune complexes, makes it a potential virulence factor in the pathogenesis of poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis. Its pathogenic properties remain to be studied in an appropriate animal model.