Chemical and Immunological Studies of the Pneumococcus

[摘要] Until the ether-soluble material in the pneumococcus cell can be obtained in quantities sufficient for complete chemical and immunological analyses, it is difficult to determine the significance of its various antigenic activities or its relationship to other substances concerned in the immune reaction. Since these ether extracts appeared to be free from protein, glycerol, sterol, and carbohydrate, it is important to note the fixation of complement in the presence of antipneumococcus sera of all types and the lack of definite specificity in this activity. In vivo no immunity was demonstrated against pneumococcus infection in mice inoculated with the ether extractive, and suspensions of dried pneumococci extracted with ether immunized mice to the same extent as suspensions of unextracted cells. It was not possible to demonstrate agglutinative, precipitative, or complement-fixing activities in the sera of inoculated rabbits, although mice were protected against pneumococcus infection by such sera.

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）