Characterization of the antiphagocytic activity of equine fibrinogen for Streptococcus equi subsp. equi.

The antiphagocytic property of equine fibrinogen for Streptococcus equi subsp. equi strain CF32 was examined in vitro. The results of bactericidal assays demonstrated that the presence of fibrinogen enhanced the ability of overnight and early log-phase cultures of strain CF32 to resist killing by equine neutrophils by 12-fold and seven-fold, respectively (p > 0.01). In addition, fibrinogen-coated bacteria treated with fibrinogen specific F(ab')2 fragments were 32% more susceptible to killing by equine neutrophils after opsonization in serum (p > 0.05), indicating that specific epitopes on fibrinogen may be important for its antiphagocytic effect. Since complement deposition is inhibited on subsp. equi (Boschwitz JS, Timoney JF, Infect Immun 1994; 42, 3515-20, we examined the effect of fibrinogen on complement deposition by using colloidal gold labeling of surface-bound C3. No significant differences were detected in the quantity of C3 deposited on the cell surface after opsonization with serum, serum plus fibrinogen, or plasma. These results suggest that the antiphagocytic property of fibrinogen is not related to the inhibition of complement deposition on the bacterial surface. Pretreatment of CF32 with M protein specific antibody inhibited fibrinogen binding by 72%, and a strain of subsp. equi expressing low levels of M protein bound 64% less fibrinogen than CF32, suggesting that the some of the fibrinogen deposited on the surface of subsp. equi is bound to M protein.