Killing of Escherichia coli by the bactericidal/permeability increasing protein and by polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

摘要

In this study, I have examined the interaction of the Bactericidal/Permeability-Increasing protein (BPI), a PMN-derived cytotoxin, with Escherichia coli and the role of BPI in the killing of E. coli by PMN. The damage produced upon binding of BPI to E. coli has been dissociated into 2 distinct and separable stages, an early sublethal stage, occurring promptly after BPI addition, causing outer membrane damage and growth arrest, and a later, lethal stage, occurring without detectable penetration or fragmentation of the bound BPI, in which damage extends to the cytoplasmic membrane. This damage includes loss of oxygen consumption, inhibition of amino acid transport, and an increased permeability of the cytoplasmic membrane to o-nitrophenyl-